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LIBRARY 

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STATE  vmCl'LTUR.U  COMMISSION. 


I,  January,  1896. 
Accession  No  .{£)  /  (0  xL {?       Class  No . 


OLIVER  P.  MORTON, 


OF  INDIANA 


SKETCH  OP 


HIS  LIFE  AND  PUBLIC  SERVICES. 


PBEPABET>  BY 


DIKECTION  OF  THE  INDIANA  REPUBLICAN 
STATE  CENTRAL  COMMITTEE. 


INDIANAPOLIS : 

JOURNAL    COMPANY,    PRINTERS. 
1876. 


y^ 


The  following  sketch  of  the  life  and  public  services  of 
Hon.  OLIVER  P.  MORTON  has  been  prepared  in  pursuance  of 
the  following  resolution  which  was  unanimously  adopted  at  the 
Republican  State  Convention,  held  at  Indianapolis,  on  the 
22d  of  February,  1876  : 

Resolved,  That  the  State  Central  Committee  be  authorized  and  requested 
to  prepare  and  publish  for  presentation  to  the  National  Republican  Conven 
tion,  when  assembled  at  Cincinnati,  an  address  embracing  a  brief  sketch  of 
the  life  and  public  services  of  Oliver  P.  Morton,  and  especially  setting  forth, 
his  eminent  fitness  for  the  high  office  for  which  this  convention  has  this  day 
nominated  him. 


OLIVER  P.  MORTON. 

SKETCH   OF 

HIS  LIFE  AND  PUBLIC  SERVICES 


It  is  the  purpose  of  this  sketch  to  present,  in  such  manner 
as  a  limited  space  will  permit,  some  phases  of  the  public  life, 
character  and  services  of  the  Hon.  Oliver  P.  Morton,  of  In 
diana.  If  it  can  be  fitly  said  of  any  man  who  has  devoted 
himself  consistently  to  the  advocacy  and  advancement  of  a 
great  cause,  that  he  is  its  representative,  then  this  can  be 
truly  said  of  Senator  Morton  and  the  Republican  cause  ;  for 
his  whole  public  life  has  been  spent  in  battling  for  the  prin 
ciple  of  political  equality,  and  all  the  great  ideas,  which, 
naturally  flowing  from  this,  have  signalized  the  grandest  and 
most  progressive  era  of  our  history.  Nor  is  it  invidious  or 
inaccurate  to  say,  if  length  of  service  and  magnitude  of 
results  be  taken  into  account,  that  he  is  the  greatest  living 
representative  of  Republican  principles ;  for,  while  it  may  be 
freely  conceded  that  there  are  many  among  our  public  men 
as  earnestly  devoted  to  these  principles  as  he,  there  is  none 
who  has  battled  for  them  on  as  many  fields  or  rendered  as  dis 
tinguished  service  in  their  behalf.  The  main  design  of  the 
present  sketch  is  to  call  attention  to  his  public  and  political 
services ;  but  this  may  be  properly  preceded  by  a  brief  notice  of 

HIS  EARLY  LIFE  AND   PROFESSIONAL  CAREER. 

Oliver  Perry  Morton  was  born  in  Wayne  county,  Indiana, 
August  4,  1823,  and  is  consequently  in  his  fifty-third  year. 
He  came  of  an  old  English  family,  his  grandfather,  who  traced 


2  OLIVER  P.  MORTON. 

his  ancestry  back  quite  a  distance  along  an  honorable  liner 
having  emigrated  from  England  about  a  century  ago  and 
settled  in  New  Jersey.  This  straight  descent  from  an  old 
English  stock  may  account  for  some  of  the  strong  traits  of 
Mr.  Morton's  character,  which  are  supposed  to  be  more  com 
mon  among  the  English  than  in  other  nationalities — as  for 
instance  his  unconquerable  will,  tenacity  of  purpose,  and 
readiness  to  accept  a  contest,  whenever  occasion  requires,  in 
spite  of  odds  or  obstacles.  His  father,  "William  T.  Morton, 
was  a  native  of  New  Jersey  and  a  man  of  sterling  worth. 
His  mother,  also  a  native  of  New  Jersey,  was  a  woman  of 
amiable  disposition  and  rare  force  of  character.  Removing 
to  the  "West  at  an  early  day,  they  soon  became  identified  with 
one  of  the  rising  communities  of  the  young  State  of  Indiana, 
of  which  their  son  was  to  become  so  distinguished  and  hon 
ored  a  citizen.  Young  Morton's  early  years  were  passed 
amid  narrow  opportunities,  but  as  often  happens  in  such 
cases,  they  were  more  highly  prized  and  assiduously  improved 
on  that  account.  Like  many  other  Americans  who  have 
risen  to  high  position,  Senator  Morton  traces  his  earliest 
development  to  a  natural  fondness  for  study  and  an  earnest 
desire  to  utilize  the  meager  advantages  afforded  him.  Appren 
ticed  to  a  hatter  at  the  age  of  fifteen,  he  followed  the  business 
for  four  years  and  seemed  likely  to  devote  his  life  to  that 
trade  ;  but  Providence  had  not  so  decreed.  During  this  per 
iod  all  his  spare  hours  were  spent  in  reading,  and  the  infor 
mation  thus  acquired  begetting  a  thirst  for  more  knowledge, 
he  quit  his  trade,  and  in  January,  1843,  at  the  age  of  nine 
teen,  entered  Miami  University  at  Oxford,  Ohio.  Here  he 
remained  two  years,  his  vigorous  and  healthy  mind  eagerly 
grasping  and  appropriating  all  the  means  of  knowledge 
placed  within  his  reach.  One  of  his  teachers  says  he  was 
"  a  diligent,  earnest  student,  modest  but  not  timid,  plain  but 
<(  not  verdant,  and  more  anxious  to  acquire  knowledge  than  to 
"  display  it."  He  also  had  the  reputation  of  being  the  best 
extemporaneous  speaker  and  debater  in  the  college — a  talent 
which  doubtless  shaped  his  career  in  life,  and  accounts,  in  a 
large  degree,  for  his  great  success  and  power  as  a  public  man. 
At  the  age  of  twenty- two  he  left  college  and  immediately 


HIS  PROFESSIONAL  CAREER.  3 

began  the  study  of  law,  in  the  office  of  the  Hon.  John  S. 
Newman,  at  Cenlerville,  Indiana.  It  may  be  mentioned  as 
a  fact  equally  honorable  to  both  that  the  friendship  then 
begun  between  them  continues  unbroken,  and  the  former  pre 
ceptor  is  still  a  trusted  friend  and  counselor  of  his  now  dis 
tinguished  pupil.  Mr.  Morton  brought  to  this  new  under 
taking  the  same  energy  of  purpose  and  conscientious  effort 
which  had  now  become  a  recognized  trait  of  his  character,  and 
grappled  with  the  law  as  one  who  meant  to  learn  it.  His 
masculine  mind  soon  mastered  the  principles  of  the  science, 
and  with  patient  effort  took  in  its  details.  Judge  Xewman 
says  he  was  a  very  thorough  reader,  and  possessed,  in  a  remark 
able  degree,  the  power  of  thinking  at  all  times  and  in  every 
place.  He  was  admitted  to  practice  in  1847.  At  that  time  the 
bar  of  Wayne  and  adjacent  counties  embraced  a  number  of  the 
best  lawyers  in  the  State,  and  Mr.  Morton  soon  found  himself 
brought  into  professional  contact  with  some  of  the  ablest  and 
most  cultivated  men  who  have  ever  graced  the  profession  in 
Indiana.  It  was  a  good  school  for  a  young  lawyer  and  well 
calculated  to  put  him  to  his  best  efforts  and  bring  out  all  there 
was  in  him.  Though  he  did  not  leap  at  once  to  fame,  as 
indeed  few  lawyers  in  this  or  any  other  country  have  ever 
done,  his  success  was  assured  from  the  beginning,  and  he  soon 
came  to  be  recognized  as  one  of  the  soundest  lawyers  on  that 
circuit.  Within  ten  years  from  his  admission  to  the  bar  he 
had  a  very  large  and  lucrative  practice  and  was  spoken  of  as 
a  rising  man.  In  1852,  at  the  age  of  twenty-nine,  Mr.  Morton 
was  elected  Circuit  Judge  by  the  Legislature.  The  position 
of  a  Judge,  however,  had  little  attraction  for  him,  and  though 
he  filled  it  to.  the  entire  satisfaction  of  the  profession  and  the 
public,  he  willingly  resigned  it  at  the  end  of  a  year.  Being 
naturally  of  a  controversial  cast  of  mind,  he  preferred  the 
bar  to  the  bench,  and  professional  combat  to  judicial  service. 
He  was  a  good  judge  but  a  better  counselor  and  advocate. 
From  1853  to  1860  he  devoted  himself  assiduously  and  suc 
cessfully  to  the  practice,  with  the  exception  of  some  brief 
digressions  into  politics,  and  was  on  one  side  or  the  other  of 
nearly  every  important  case  tried  in  Wayne  or  the  neighbor 
ing  counties. 


OLIVER  P.  MORTON. 


ENTRANCE   INTO   POLITICS. 

Mr.  Morton  began  life  as  a  Democrat.  The  early  tradi 
tions  of  that  party  exercised  a  peculiar  power  over  the  minds 
of  ambitious  young  men,  and  the  public  conscience  was  still 
comparatively  dormant  as  to  its  corrupt  and  corrupting  ten 
dencies.  He  was  reared  to  believe  in  Democratic  doctrines, 
and  when  he  became  a  voter  (1844)  slavery  was  still  gener 
ally  regarded  as  a  sacred  institution,  upon  the  protection  of 
which  depended  the  perpetuity  of  the  Union.  The  political 
danger  of  the  institution  was  no  better  understood  than  its 
moral  turpitude,  and  though  a  public  sentiment  was  already 
forming  which  was  destined  to  sweep  it  out  of  existence,  that 
sentiment  had  not  as  yet  assumed  any  well  defined  organiza 
tion  or  feasible  line  of  action.  The  public  mind  was  satu 
rated  with  the  idea,  so  long  and  zealously  taught  by  the 
Democratic  party,  that  the  Constitution  was  the  twin  brother 
of  slavery,  and  that  the  preservation  of  the  one  required 
immunity,  if  not  protection  for  the  other.  But  the  leaven 
was  at  work  which  was  to  leaven  the  whole  lump,  and  the 
time  was  fast  approaching  when  the  corrupt  and  dangerous 
designs  of  the  Democracy  were  to  be  exposed  in  all  their 
hideous  proportions.  The  repeal  of  the  Missouri  Compromise 
in  1854  at  once  betrayed  the  whole  purpose  of  the  party  and 
opened  the  way  for  those  to  leave  it,  who  had  already  become 
convinced  of  its  faithlessness  and  treachery.  Mr.  Morton  left 
it  then  and  has  ever  since  acted  with  the  party  of  liberty  and 
progress,  then  nameless,  but  now  known  to  history  and  fame 
as  the  Republican  party.  Having  made  public  avowal  of  his 
opposition  to  slavery  and  his  withdrawal  from  the  Democ 
racy,  he  soon  became  known  as  one  of  the  most  earnest  advo 
cates  of  a  new  party  to  embody  the  growing  sentiment  against 
the  aggressions  of  the  slave  power  and  to  represent  the  princi 
ples  of  liberty  and  progress.  He  was  one  of  the  three  dele 
gates  sent  from  Indiana  to  the 

PITTSBURGH    CONVENTION    IN    1856. 

From  this  convention  the  Republican  party  dates  it  origin — 


£j 

HIS  EARLY  REPUBLICANISM. 

not  the  origin  of  its  principles,  but  the  beginning  of  its  polit 
ical  existence.  It  was  held  on  the  22nd  of  February,  a  day 
which  has  been  honored  by  many  Republican  conventions 
since.  Its  deliberations  were  interesting  and  important,  and 
were  actively  participated  in  by  Mr.  Morton,  who  was  already 
recognized  as  one  of  the  rising  men  of  the  new  party.  This 
convention  blazed  the  way  for  the  one  at  Philadelphia,  which, 
four  months  later,  nominated  John  C.  Fremont  for  Presi 
dent.  In  thus  espousing  the  Republican  cause,  Mr.  Morton 
was  accompanied  and  followed  by  many  honest  and  staunch 
Democrats,  who,  as  the  issue  was  made  up,  recognized  the 
Republican  party  as  the  party  of  liberty  and  progress.  Espec 
ially  were  the  liberty-loving  Germans  quick  to  discern  the 
significance  of  the  movement  and  prompt  in  giving  it  their 
adhesion.  They  espoused  the  cause  with  great  heartiness 
and  enthusiasm  and  were  then,  as  now,  among  its  most 
ardent  supporters.  Among  all  his  friends  Senator  Morton 
numbers  none  more  ardent  or  more  appreciative  of  his  services 
to  the  cause  of  liberty  than  the  German  Republicans  of 
Indiana. 

The  Republican  State  Convention  of  Indiana  met  in 
1856  to  nominate  candidates  for  Governor  and  State  offi 
cers.  The  new  party  was  on  its  metal,  and  every  consi 
deration  required  that  it  should  put  forth  its  strongest 
and  most  available  men.  It  already  numbered  in  its  ranks 
many  thousands  of  the  best  citizens  in  the  State,  and  justly 
claimed  then,  as  now,  to  represent  the  best  elements  of 
society.  On  a  full  survey  of  the  situation,  the  convention 
nominated  Mr.  Morton  for  Governor  by  acclamation.  The 
nomination  was  accepted  with  a  full  consciousness  that  there 
was  little  or  no  prospect  of  election  and  that  the  party 
expected  a  thorough  and  exhaustive  canvass  of  the  State.  It 
would  involve  several  months  neglect  of  professional  business 
and  considerable  expense.  But  he  had  embarked  in  the  new 
movement  and  his  heart  was  in  the  cause.  Foreseeing  the 
rising  contest  between  the  powers  of  political  darkness  and 
light,  he  could  have  truthfully  said  with  Richard,  "  My  soul's 
"  in  arms  and  eager  for  the  fray." 

His  Democratic  opponent  in  the  contest  was  Hon.  A.  P. 


6  OLIVER   P.  MORTON. 

Willard,  a  very  able  man  and  one  of  the  most  brilliant  speak 
ers  of  his  day.  He  represented  an  old,  compact,  powerful 
political  organization,  strengthened  by  the  prestige  of  time 
and  past  successes  ;  while  Morton  appeared  as  the  champion 
of  a  new  party,  comparatively  weak  in  numbers  and  organi 
zation,  but  strong  in  the  consciousness  of  right  principles. 
From  that  campaign,  unsuccessful  as  it  was,  dates  his  popu 
larity  with  the  Republican  masses  and  his  powerful  hold  on 
the  party;  for,  though  subsequent  events  have  infinitely 
strengthened  both,  they  had  their  beginning  in  the  campaign 
of  185G.  Mr.  Morton  made  a  thorough  canvass  of  the  State, 
appearing  then,  for  the  first  time,  before  the  people  at  large. 
Wherever  he  went  he  made  a  deep  and  lasting  impression  by 
the  vigor  of  his  attack,  the  force  of  his  logic,  the  evident 
earnestness  of  his  convictions  and  the  lofty  confidence  which 
he  evinced  in  the  ultimate  triumph  of  Republican  principles. 
Those  who  listened  to  him  knew  he  was  a  rising  man,  and 
saw  the  light  of  ultimate  victory  in  his  eye.  Broad  and  deep 
he  laid  in  the  hearts  and  minds  of  the  people  the  foundation 
principles  on  which  was  to  be  reared,  in  future  years,  a  polit 
ical  structure  of  grandeur  and  beauty.  The  contest  ended  in 
his  defeat,  as  he  expected  it  would  ;  but  it  was  a  victory  for 
the  Republican  party,  since  the  seed  then  sown  were,  in  due 
time,  to  spring  up  and  bring  forth  abundant  fruit.  From  that 
day  to  the  present,  no  political  campaign  has  occurred  in  the 
State  in  which  he  has  not  borne  a  leading  part.  In  every 
battle  for  Republican  principles  he  has  been  in  the  thickest  of 
the  fight,  leading  and  cheering  on  his  followers  and  dealing 
tremendous  blows  on  the  enemy,  while  his  intuitive  know 
ledge  of  politics  and  his  consummate  leadership  have  been 
found  as  valuable  in  council  as  in  action. 

After  the  unsuccessful  campaign  of  1856,  Mr.  Morton 
resumed  the  practice  of  law,  which  he  continued  for  four 
years,  when  the  Republican  party  again  demanded  his  services. 
In  1860  he  was  nominated  for  Lieutenant-Governor,  with  Hon. 
Henry  S.  Lane  as  Governor.  Again,  as  in  1856,  he  threw 
aside  private  and  professional  business  at  the  call  of  party, 
and  prepared  for  another  thorough  canvass  of  the  State. 
This  time  he  was  no  stranger  to  the  people.  His  services 


THE  CAMPAIGN  OF  1860.  7 

to  the  new  party  had  been  matter  of  common  remark  dur 
ing  the  last  four  years,  and  wherever  he  went  he  was 
greeted  with  enthusiasm.  The  campaign  lasted  four  months, 
and  he  spoke  in  every  part  of  the  State.  In  this  canvass  he 
showed  the  same  intuitive  insight  into  politics,  the  same 
comprehensive  grasp  of  public  questions  and  enthusiastic 
devotion  to  the  principles  of  the  Eepublican  party  that  had 
won  so  much  commendation  in  1856.  In  a  speech,  delivered 
at  Terre  Haute  on  the  10th  of  March,  1860,  he  thus  arraigned 
the  Democratic  party  : 

"It  found  the  country  at  peace,  and  has  left  it  stained  with  blood  and 
"  torn  by  civil  dissensions.  It  reopened  the  slavery  question  in  a  form  most 
"  offensive,  and  under  circumstances  most  aggravating  to  the  anti-slavery 
"  sentiment  of  the  North.  It  was  the  deliberate  breach  of  a  time-honored 
"  Compromise  which  had  had  its  origin  in  the  most  critical  period  of  our 
"political  history,  and  had  given  peace  to  the  nation.  History  will  pro- 
"  nounce  judgment  on  this  repeal  as  a  wanton  and  wicked  act,  without  a 
"  circumstance  to  palliate  or  excuse  its  perpetration,  and  as  having  its  origin 
"in  the  political  necessities  and  reckless  ambition  of  partisans.  The  object 
"  to  be  gained  was  the  united  favor  of  the  South,  and  the  means  of  obtain- 
"  ing  it  an  extravagant  and  reckless  devotion  to  her  supposed  interests." 

Of  the  Republican  party  then  advancing  so  grandly  to  vic 
tory,  he  said : 

"It  is  a  matter  of  proud  congratulation  that  there  is  not  one  disunionist 
"  within  the  pale  of  the  Republican  party.  There  is  no  part  of  the  Repub- 
"  lican  platform  upon  which  a  disunionist  can  stand.  *  *  We  do  not 
"say  that  the  Union  may  be  preserved  upon  certain  conditions  ;  we  do  not 
"  measure  our  fidelity  to  it  by  our  success;  but  we  say  '  it  must  and  shall  be 
"  preserved,'  whatever  party  may  be  in  the  ascendant.  We  do  not  say  the 
"  Republican  party  first  and  the  Union  afterwards ;  but  we  say  the  Union 
"first,  last  and  all  the  time,  and  that  we  will  wage  uncompromising  warfare 
"  upon  all  parties  that  contemplate  its  destruction  under  any  circumstances." 

Perhaps  the  remembrance  of  his  defeat  four  years  before 
spurred  him  to  greater  efforts,  or  perhaps  the  almost  certain 
prospect  of  victory  inspired  him ;  certain  it  is  that  in  this 
campaign  he  performed  a  vast  amount  of  labor  and  with 
marked  results.  Under  Providence,  his  efforts  in  1856  and 
1860  contributed  more  than  those  of  any  other  one 
person  to  the  overthrow  of  the  slave  Democracy  in  this  State 
and  the  final  success  of  the  Republican  party.  The  election 
resulted  in  the  success  of  the  whole  Republican  ticket  by  about 
10,000  majority.  Immediately  after  the  assembling  of  the 


8  OLIVER  P.  MORTON. 

legislature,  Mr.  Lane  was  elected  United  States  Senator,  and 
Mr.  Morton  became 


GOVERNOR  OF  INDIANA. 

This  office  Lad  in  store  for  him  such  labors,  responsibilities, 
and  dangers  as  rarely  fall  to  the  lot  of  man ;  and,  it  may  be 
added,  it  was  destined  to  bring  him  a  corresponding  amount 
of  public  applause  and  national  reputation.  But  before  notic 
ing  in  detail  his  great  services  to  the  State  and  Nation  in  this 
capacity,  it  will  be  necessary  to  glance  at  the  political  situation 
at  the  time  of  his  assuming  the  office. 

The  steady  aggression  of  the  slave  power  had  culminated 
in  the  open  avowal  of  a  purpose  to  dissolve  the  Union  in  case 
of  a  Republican  success  in  I860.  While  using  the  cry  of 
"sectionalism"  against  the  Republican  party,  the  Southern 
Democracy  had  themselves  erected  the  sectional  standard  by 
asserting  that  the  government  was  nothing  without  slavery, 
and  the  constitution  worthless  unless  that  institution  was  to  be 
both  protected  and  extended.  Public  sentiment,  already 
debauched  by  a  long  and  systematic  course  of  Democratic 
intrigue,  was  still  further  demoralized  by  the  weakness  and 
treachery  of  James  Buchanan's  administration,  the  most  dis 
astrous  and  despicable  that  has  ever  disgraced  our  history. 
Corruption  was  the  rule,  and  honesty  the  exception.  Patriots 
blushed  with  shame,  and  treason  lifted  its  head  without  rebuke. 
The  October  elections  in  18GO  showed  that  the  public  con 
science  was  at  last  aroused,  and  that  the  men  of  the  North 
were  moving.  The  election  of  Lincoln  in  November  thre^v 
the  Democracy  into  a  frenzy  of  rage.  Four  months  of  Buchan 
an's  administration  still  remained  in  which  to  work  their 
policy  of  rulo  or  ruin,  and  they  no  longer  attempted  to  con 
ceal  their  purposes.  Dissolution  of  the  Ucion  was  the  South 
ern  ultimatum — peaceably  if  they  could,  forcibly  if  they  must. 
The  doctrine  of  secession  was  boldly  avowed  as  a  constitu 
tional  and  Democratic  remedy  against  a  Republican  triumph, 
and  the  idea  of  preventing  or  "  coercing  "  a  State  from  going 
out  of  the  Union  was  hooted  at  by  every  Southern  Democrat 
and  a  majority  of  those  in  the  North.  Meanwhile,  a  Demo- 


DENOUNCES  SECESSION.  9 

cratic  Secretary  of  War  was  scattering  the  army  and  plunder 
ing  the  government  arsenals,  and  other  Democratic  traitors 
were  using  their  utmost  efforts  to  undermine  the  government. 
Disunion  meetings  were  being  held  in  all  parts  of  the  South. 
Resolutions  had  already  passed  the  South  Carolina  legislature 
(Nov.  12,  18GO;)  calling  a  convention  with  the  distinct  pur 
pose  of  secession,  and  both  of  the  United  States  Senators  from 
that  State  had  resigned  their  spnts.  And  still,  as  yet,  no  one 
in  all  the  great  North  had  raised  an  authoritative  voice  against 
this  madness.  There  was  patriotism  and  loyalty  enough,  but 
it  was  unorganized,  even  disorganized.  The  President  elect 
was  not  yet  authorized  to  speak.  The  Northern  press  was 
wavering  and  public  opinion  was  at  sea.  The  country  was 

WAITING   FOB  A   LEADER. 

Just  at  this  time  a  Republican  mass  meeting  was  called  in 
.Indianapolis  to  consider  the  situation.  It  met  on  the  22d  of 
November,  1861.  The  largest  hall  in  the  city  was  crowded 
with  such  an  audience  as  the  Republican  party  only  could  fur 
nish.  The  speaker  was  Oliver  P.  Morton.  The  subject  was 
the  rights  and  duties  of  the  government  in  the  existing  emer 
gency.  The  audience  knew  he  was  a  strong  and  bold  man, 
and  they  expected  strong  and  bold  words ;  but  their  hearts 
leaped  with  joy  at  what  they  heard  that  night,  as  the  loyal 
heart  of  the  country  did  the  next  day  on  reading  the  report 
of  his  speech.  Then  and  there  for  the  first  time  by  any  lead 
ing  man  was  the  duty  of  the  government  in  the  pending  crisis 
clearly  and  boldly  asserted.  The  doctrines  of  secession  and 
coercion  were  examined  in  the  light  of  the  constitution,  and 
the  right  and  duty  of  self-preservation  shown  to  belong  to  the 
government.  Stripping  the  subject  of  all  disguises,  the  speaker 
struck  straight  at  the  heart  of  the  question,  and  interpreted 
at  once  the  popular  conviction  and  the  popular  wish  in  that 
trying  hour.  The  path  of  honor  and  of  duty  was  shown  to 
be  the  only  path  of  safety.  The  pernicious  doctrine  of 
"  peaceable  secession,"  advocated  by  some  well  meaning  per 
sons  in  the  North,  was  traced  to  its  ultimate  consequences,  and 
shown  to  be  contrary  to  the  constitution  and  fatal  to  every 


10  OLIVER  P.  MORTON. 

principle  of  government.  The  grandeur  and  glory  of  the 
Union  were  set  forth  in  eloquent  words,  and  the  power  of  the 
government  to  "  coerce"  a  seceding  State  was  asserted  in  the 
strongest  terms.  In  short,  the  patriotic  sense  of  the  loyal 
North  in  favor  of  preserving  the  Union  was  interpreted  in  a 
manner  which  no  other  public  man  had  yet  ventured  to  adopt. 
Morton  rose  to  the  height  of  the  occasion.  The  policy  of 
"  coercion  "  had  come  to  be  a  sort  of  bugbear  to  many  persons. 

*'  What  is  coercion?  "  said  Mr.  Morton,  "  but  the  enforcement  of  the  law? 
"  Is  anything  else  intended  or  required  ?  Secession  or  nullification  can 
"  only  be  regarded  by  the  general  government  as  individual  action  upon 
"  individual  responsibility.  Those  concerned  in  it  can  not  entrench  them- 
"  selves  behind  the  forms  of  the  state  government  so  as  to  give  their  con- 
"  duct  the  semblance  of  legality,  and  thus  devolve  the  responsibility  upon 
"  the  state  government,  which  of  itself  is  irresponsible.  The  constitution 
"  and  laws  of  the  United  States  operate  upon  individuals,  but  not  upon 
"  states,  and  precisely  as  if  there  were  no  states.  In  this  matter  the  Presi- 
"  dent  has  no  discretion.  He  has  taken  a  solemn  oath  to  enforce  the  laws 
"  and  preserve  order,  and  to  this  end  he  has  been  made  Commander-in- 
"  chief  of  the  army  and  navy.  How  can  he  be  absolved  from  responsibil- , 
"  ity  thus  devolved  upon  him  by  the  constitution  and  his  official  oath  ?  " 

He  then  showed  that  the  constitution  provided  no  way  for 
a  state  to  get  out  of  the  Union,  and  that  the  only  alternative 
for  the  President  was  to  enforce  the  laws  or  acknowledge  the 
independence  of  a  seceding  state,  and  he  could  only  do  that 
by  authority  of  Congress.  The  central  thought  and  ruling 
idea  of  the  speech  was  that  the  Union  must  be  preserved, 
and,  if  need  be,  by  force.  Pursuing  this  line  of  thought, 
Mr.  Morton  said  : 

"  The  right  of  secession  conceded,  the  Nation  is  dissolved.  Instead  of 
"  having  a  Nation,  one  mighty  people,  we  have  but  a  collection  and  combi- 
"  nation  of  thirty-three  independent  and  petty  states,  held  together  by  a 
"  treaty  which  has  hitherto  been  called  a  constitution,  of  the  infraction  of 
"which  each  state  is  to  be  the  judge,  and  from  which  any  state  may  with- 
"  draw  at  pleasure.  '•  The  right  of  secession  conceded  and  the  way 

"  to  do  it  having  been  shown  to  be  safe  and  easy,  the  prestige  of  the  repub- 
"  lie  gone,  the  national  pride  extinguished  .with  the  national  idea,  secession 
"  would  become  the  remedy  for  every  state  or  sectional  grievance,  real  cr 
"  imaginary.  *  *  *  If  South  Carolina  gets  out  of  the  Union,  I  trust  it 
"  will  be  at  the  point  of  the  bayonet,  after  our  best  efforts  have  failed  to 
"  compel  her  to  submission  to  the  laws.  *  *  *  Shall  we  now  surrender 
"  the  Nation  without  a  struggle,  and  let  the  Union  go  with  merely  a  few 
"  hard  words  ?  If  it  was  worth  a  bloody  struggle  to  establish  this  Nation, 


AN  EFFECTIVE  SPEECH.  1 1 

"  it  is  worth  one  to  preserve  it,  and  I  trust  that  we  shall  not,  by  surrender- 
"  ing  with  indecent  haste,  publish  to  the  world  that  the  inheritance  oui 
"  fathers  purchased  with  their  blood  we  have  given  up  to  save  ours." 

Then,  after  pointing  out  the  frightful  consequences,  the 
anarchy  and  ruin  sure  to  follow  a  dissolution  of  the  Union, 
he  said : 

"  We  must,  then,  cling  to  the  idea  that  we  are  a  Nation,  one  and  indivis- 
"  ible,  and  that,  although  subdivided  by  state  lines  for  local  and  domestic 
"  purposes,  we  are  but  one  people,  the  citizens  of  a  common  country,  having 
"  like  institutions  and  manners,  and  possessing  a  common  interest  in 
"  that  inheritance  of  glory  so  richly  provided  by  our  fathers.  We  must 
"  therefore  do  no  act — we  must  tolerate  no  act — we  must  concede  no  idea  or 
<;  theory  that  looks  to  or  involves  the  dismemberment  of  the  Nation.  *  * 
"  *  Seven  years  is  but  a  day  in  the  life  of  a  nation,  and  I  would  rather 
"  come  out  of  a  struggle  at  the  end  of  that  time,  defeated  in  arms  and  con- 
"  ceding  independence  to  successful  revolution,  than  to  purchase  present 
"  peace  by  the  concession  of  a  principle  that  must  inevitably  explode  this 
"  Nation  into  small  and  dishonored  fragments.  *  *  *  The  whole  ques- 
"  tion  is  summed  up  in  this  proposition  :  'Are  we  one  Nation,  one  people, 
" or  thirty-three  nations,  or  thirty-three  independent  and  petty  states?' 
"The  statement  of  the  proposition  furnishes  the  answer.  If  we  are  one 
"  nation  then  no  State  has  a  right  to  secede.  Recession  can  only  be  the 
"  result  of  successful  revolution.  I  answer  the  question  for  you,  and  I  know 
"  that  my  answer  will  find  a  true  response  in  every  true  American  heart, 
"  that  we  are  one  people,  one  Nation,  undivided  and  indivisible." 

It  is  doubtful  if  any  speech  ever  delivered  in  the  United 
States  produced  more  immediate  and  visible  effects  than  the 
one  from  which  the  above  quotations  are  made.  It  was  what 
the  country  had  been  waiting  for — the  voice  of  a  leader  able 
to  comprehend  the  great  issues  involved,  far-sighted  enough 
to  trace  them  to  their  legitimate  results,  and  bold  enough  to 
assert  the  right  and  duty  of  the  Government  to  protect  itself 
against  secession  and  treason.  The  speech  went  to  the  popu 
lar  heart  like  a  bullet  to  its  mark.  Men  read  it,  and  said, 
"  here  is  the  doctrine  and  the  man."  It  dissipated  the  clouds 
of  doubt  and  error  as  the  sun  scatters  the  morning  mists. 
The  public  mind  wavered  no  longer.  From  that  day  forth 
the  idea  of  f'  peaceable  secession  "  was  dead  and  the  policy  of 
force  was  a  fixed  fact.  It  went  like  wild-fire  all  over  the 
country.  It  was  published  far  and  wide  in  the  Republican 
papers,  and  everywhere  admitted  to  be  unanswerable.  The 
Southern  leaders  read  in  it  an  authoritative  expression  of 


12  OLIVER  P.  MORTON. 

Northern  opinion.  A  prominent  gentleman,  who  visited  the 
President-elect  a  short  time  afterwards,  at  Springfield,  found 
Mr.  Lincoln  reading  the  speech,  and  Mr.  Lincoln  said :  "  It 
"  covers  the  whole  ground,  and  declares  the  whole  policy  of 
"  the  Government.  It  is  the  policy  I  shall  pursue  from  the 
"first."  Its  echoes  reached  across  the  ocean,  and  it  was 
regarded  with  such  political  significance  that  the  English 
authorities  applied,  through  the  English  consul  at  Cincinnati, 
for  a  copy  of  it.  It  constituted  a  rallying-point  for  public 
opinion  throughout  the  North  and  gave  an  immense  impulse 
to  the  development  of  loyal  sentiment.  It  lifted  Mr.  Morton 
at  once  into  national  prominence  and  secured  him  universal 
recognition  as  one  of  the  ablest  men  in  the  Republican 
party. 

On  the  16th  of  January,  1861,  he  became  Governor,  vice 
Hon.  Henry  S.  Lane,  elected  to  the  United  States  Senate. 
From  the  day  of  his  inauguration  Governor  Morton  gave 
evidence  of  possessing 

EXTBAOBDINABY  EXECUTIVE  ABILITY. 

Hitherto  he  had  been  known  as  an  able  lawyer,  a  powerful 
debater,  and  an  eloquent  champion  of  Republican  principles. 
During  the  next  few  years  he  was  destined  to  develop  most 
surprising  ability  as  an  executive  officer.  It  is  entirely  within 
the  bounds  of  truth  to  say  that  no  man  now  in  public  life 
has  had  so  great  experience  as  an  executive  officer,  or  has 
shown  such  signal  ability  in  administering  a  high  office  in  the 
face  of  unparralleled  difficulties  and  dangers.  With  one 
exception,  Governor  Morton  was  the  youngest  Executive  of 
any  Northern  State — being,  at  the  time  of  his  inauguration, 
thirty-seven  years  old.  But  of  all  those  who  acted  in  that 
capacity  during  the  eventful  years  of  the  war,  none  was 
surrounded  with  such  difficulties  as  he,  and  none  gave  evi 
dence  of  such  iron  will  and  immense  fertility  of  resources. 
Other  Governors  had,  indeed,  important  duties  to  perform, 
but,  they  were  sustained  by  a  united  people,  und  the  path  of 
duty  was  plain  and  unobstructed.  With  Governor  Morton 
the  case  was  very  different.  He  was  beset  with  difficulties 


HIS  EXECUTIVE  ABILITY.  13 

and  dangers  throughout  the  whole  course  of  his  administra 
tion.  In  no  other  Northern  State  was  the  opposition  to  the 
war  so  strong  and  bitter  as  in  Indiana,  and  nowhere  else  did 
it  find  expression  in  such  formidable  and  dangerous  organiza 
tions.  The  character  and  extent  of  this  opposition  will  be 
more  fully  noticed  hereafter,  together  with  the  means  by 
which  it  was  constantly  met  and  defeated;  the  matter  is 
referred  to  now  by  way  of  emphasizing  the  statement,  made 
deliberately,  that  no  public  man  in  America  has  given  evi 
dence  of  possessing  such  remarkable  executive  ability  as  the 
Hon.  O.  P.  Morton. 

His  first  attention  was  turned  toward  reforming  the  civil 
administration  of  the  State,  and  during  the  three  months 
that  preceded  the  breaking  out  of  the  war  he  accomplished 
wonders  in  this  direction.  The  financial  affairs  of  the  State 
were  in  confusion  and  embarrassment.  Under  a  succession 
of  loose  and  corrupt  administrations  the  State  had  been  dis 
graced  and  its  credit  seriously  impaired.  A  long  period  of 
uninterrupted  Democratic  rule  had  polluted  every  department 
of  the  State  government.  The  public  lands  had  been  stolen, 
its  revenues  squandered,  and  fraud  and  extravagance  were  the 
prevailing  rule.  The  people  soon  discovered  that  there  was  a 
new  man  at  the  helm  and  that  the  old  order  of  things  had 
passed  away.  Happily,  he  had  in  his  work  of  reform  the 
hearty  co-operation  of  an  excellent  set  of  State  officers,  and 
the  results  were  soon  manifest  in  the  higher  tone  of  admin 
istration,  the  reduction  of  public  expenses,  the  wholesale 
removal  of  peculating  officials  and  a  general  reformation  of 
affairs.  Governor  Morton  had  already  distinguished  himself 
as  an  executive  officer  before  the  war  began  ;  but  that  event, 
ushering  in  the  most  memorable  era  of  our  history,  was  des 
tined  to  develop  this  quality  of  his  character  in  a  most  mar 
velous  degree,  and  to  secure  for  him,  in  the  mouths  of  all  men 
and  in  history,  the  honorable  title  of 


And  here  let  us  recapitulate  a  little.     Since  the  election  of 
Lincoln  the  secessionists  in  the  South  had  been  very  active, 


14  OLIVER  P.  MORTON. 

and  the  Democratic  conspiracy  for  the  dissolution  of  the 
Union  had  made  rapid  progress.  A  convention  had  been 
called  in  South  Carolina,  which,  on  the  20th  of  December, 
1861,  had  passed  unanimously  and  amid  great  enthusi 
asm  an  ordinance  of  secession.  The  Georgia  Legislature  had 
passed  a  bill  appropriating  $1,000,000  to  arm  and  equip  the 
State,  and  a  delegate  convention  had  adopted  an  ordinance  of 
secession  by  an  overwhelming  majority.  Most  of  the  South 
ern  States  had  wheeled  into  line,  or  shown  their  willingness 
to  do  so.  Peaceable  expedients  had  been  exhausted,  and  all 
attempts  at  compromise  had  failed.  The  South  would  have 
nothing  but  separation.  The  rebel  Senators  and  Representa 
tives  had  remained  in  Congress  as  long  as  they  dared,  and 
then,  drawing  their  pay,  had  fled  South.  A  Congress  of 
Southern  States  had  been  held  at  Montgomery,  Alabama, 
early  in  February,  1861,  at  which  a  constitution  for  "  The 
"  Confederate  States  of  America  "  had  been  adopted,  and  a 
President  and  Vice  President  had  been  elected.  On  his  way 
to  "Washington  Mr.  Lincoln  made  a  brief  stop  at  Indianap 
olis,  and  was  received  with  great  enthusiasm  by  a  vast  assem 
blage  of  people.  On  this  occasion  Governor  Morton  deliv 
ered  the  address  of  welcome  to  the  President,  in  the  course  of 
which  he  said : 

"  In  every  free  government  there  will  be  differences  of  opinion,  and  these 
"  differences  result  in  the  formation  of  parties  ;  but,  when  the  voice  of  the 
"  people  has  been  expressed  through  the  forms  of  the  Constitution,  all  pat- 
"  riots  yield  to  it  obedience.  Submission  to  the  popular  will  is  the  essential 
"  principle  of  Kepublican  government,  and  so  vital  is  this  principle  that  it 
"  admits  of  but  one  exception,  which  is  revolution.  To  weaken  it  is  anar- 
"  chy  ;  to  destroy  it  is  despotism.  It  recognizes  no  appeal  beyond  the  bal- 
"  lot-box,  and  while  it  is  preserved,  Liberty  may  be  wounded  but  never 
«  slain." 

To  these  statesmanlike  words  the  President-elect  responded 
in  terms  which  showed  that  he  fully  appreciated  the  gravity 
of  the  situation.  After  his  inauguration  events  followed  each 
other  in  rapid  succession.  Finally  they  culminated  in  the 
firing  on  Fort  Sumter,  and  the  surrender  of  that  post  to  the 
rebels.  This  occurred  on  the  12th  of  April,  1861.  On  the 
15th,  President  Lincoln  issued  his  Proclamation  calling  for 
75,000  men,  and  appealing  "  to  all  loyal  citizens  to  favor, 


BEGINNING  OF  THE  WAR.  15 

4i  facilitate  and  aid  this  effort  to  maintain  the  honor,  the  integ- 
"  rity  and  existence  of  our  National  Union,  and  the  perpet- 
"  uity  of  popular  Government,  and  to  redress  wrongs  already 
"  long  enough  endured."  On  the  morning  of  the  very  day 
this  proclamation  was  issued,  and  before  it  was  received  in 
Indianapolis,  Governor  Morton  had  telegraphed  as  follows : 

"EXECUTIVE  DEPARTMENT  OP  INDIANA,) 
"INDIANAPOLIS,  April  15,  1861.         / 
"  To  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN, 

"President  of  the  United  States: 

"  On  behalf  of  the  State  of  Indiana,  I  tender  to  you,  for  the  defence  of 
"  the  Nation  and  to  uphold  the  authority  'of  the  Government,  ten  thou- 
"  sand  men. 

"OLIVER  P.  MORTON, 

"  Governor  of  Indiana" 

Thus  Indiana,  through  her  Governor,  was  the  first  State  to 
accept  the  gauge  of  war  and  to  proffer  troops,  as  she  was  also 
one  of  the  first  to  put  her  troops  into  the  field.  The  State's 
quota,  under  the  call,  was  six  regiments,  and  on  the  next  day 
Governor  Morton  issued  the  following  proclamation : 

"  WHEREAS,  An  armed  rebellion  has  been  organized  in  certain  States  of 
"  this  Union,  having  for  its  purppse  the  overthrow  of  the  Government  of 
"  the  United  States ; 

"AND  WHEREAS,  The  authors  and  movers  in  this  rebellion  have  siezed,  by 
"  violence,  various  forts  and  arsenals  belonging  to  the  United  States,  and 
"  otherwise  plundered  the  Government  of  large  amounts  of  money  and  val- 
"  uable  property ; 

"AND  WHEREAS,  Fort  Sumter,  belonging  to  the  United  States,  the  exclu- 
"  sive  possession  of,  and  jurisdiction  over,  which  were  vested  in  the  general 
"Government  by  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  has  been  besieged  by 
"  a  large  army,  and  assaulted  by  a  destructive  cannonade,  and  reduced  to 
"  submission,  and  the  National  flag  hauled  down  and  dishonored ; 

"AND  WHEREAS,  The  President  of  the  United  States,  in  the  exercise  of  the 
"  power  vested  in  him  by  the  Federal  Constitution,  has  called  upon  the 
"  several  States  remaining  true  to  their  allegiance  to  aid  him  in  the  enforce- 
"  ment  of  the  laws,  the  recovery  of  the  National  property  and  the  mainten- 
"  ance  of  the  rightful  authority  of  the  United  States ; 

"  Now,  THEREFORE,  I,  OLIVER  P.  MORTON,  Governor  of  the  State  of 
"  Indiana,  call  upon  the  loyal  and  patriotic  men  of  this  State,  to  the  num- 
"  her  of  six  regiments,  to  organize  themselves  into  military  companies,  and 
"  forthwith  report  themselves  to  the  Adjutant  General,  in  order  that  they 
"  may  be  speedily  mustered  into  the  service  of  the  United  States. 

"OLIVER  P.  MORTON, 

"  Governor." 

INDIANAPOLIS,  April  16, 1861. 


16  OLIVER  P.  MORTON. 

The  response  of  the  people  to  the  Governor's  call  was  as 
prompt  as  his  own  to  that  of  the  government.  The  day  after 
it  was  issued  there  were  five  hundred  men  in  camp  at  Indian 
apolis,  and  the  State  House  had  already  begun  to  assume  the 
appearance  of  a  military  headquarters.  Fearing  that  an 
attempt  would  be  made  by  the  rebels  to  take  possession  of  the 
National  Capital,  Governor  Morton  telegraphed  to  the  Secre 
tary  of  War  on  the  18th  offering  to  send  forward  one  regiment 
immediately  if  needed  to  protect  the  capital,  but  they  were 
not  called  for.  At  this  time  there  was  less  than  $15,000  in 
the  State  treasury,  and  no  available  means  of  arming,  subsist 
ing  and  equipping  troops.  Foreseeing  the  approach  of  hostil 
ities,  Governor  Morton  had  visited  "Washington  about  the 
middle  of  March  for  the  purpose  of  procuring  a  supply  of 
arms  for  State  troops  from  the  General  Government,  but 
obtained  little  satisfaction.  What  few  arms  the  State  had, 
therefore,  were  practically  worthless.  It  had  no  military  law 
nor  any  military  system.  All  had  to  be  built  from  the  ground 
up.  No  man  ever  met  new  and  sudden  responsibilities  more 
nobly  than  Governor  Morton  did  in  this  emergency,  or  showed 
greater  executive  ability  and  aptitude  for  affairs.  On  the  20th 
of  April,  four  days  after  his  call  was  issued,  the  organization 
of  regiments  began.  Meanwhile,  the  war  spirit  was  rushing 
through  the  State  like  a  whirlwind,  and  volunteers  continued 
to  pour  in.  At  this  juncture,  Governor  Morton,  foreseeing 
that  the  government  would  need  more  men,  telegraphed  to  the 
Secretary  of  War  offering  six  additional  regiments,  without 
regard  to  length  of  service,  and  pledging  his  word  to  organize 
them  in  six  days,  if  accepted.  No  response  being  received  to 
this  proposition,  the  Governor,  on  the  23d,  sent  a  special  mes 
senger  to  Washington,  renewing  the  offer,  and  expressing  his 
determination  at  all  events  to  put  six  additional  regiments  into 
camp  and  hold  them  subject  to  the  demand  of  the  government. 
Thus,  at  the  very  threshold  of  the  conflict,  he  showed  an 
appreciation  of  its  probable  magnitude  and  an  energy  in  pre 
paring  for  it  not  evinced  by  the  Governor  of  any  other  North 
ern  State.  Happily,  his  great  popularity  throughout  the  State, 
and  the  unbounded  confidence  which  the  people  had  already 
learned  to  feel  in  his  judgment  and  patriotism,  enabled  him  to 


CONVENES  THE  LEGISLATURE.  17 

fulfill  to  the  letter  every  pledge  or  promise  ever  made  to  the 
Government,  or  to  the  troops  themselves.  Amid  the  vast  and 
difficult  labors  now  devolved  on  him,  his  personal  energy  was 
felt  in  the  smallest  details,  while  his  promptness  and  vigor  of 
action  soon  taught  the  Government  and  the  people  alike  to 
look  upon  him  as  one  of  the 

MAIN   PILLARS    OF    THE   STATE. 

He  threw  himself  with  tremendous  energy  into  the  work  of 
prosecuting  the  war,  and  steadily  and  rapidly  rose  to  the  height 
of  the  great  occasion.  On  the  24th  of  April  the  State  Legis 
lature  met,  in  obedience  to  the  Governor's  call  issued  a  few 
days  previous.  In  his  message  to  that  body,  after  reviewing 
the  history  of  the  secession  movement,  he  said  : 

"  We  have  passed  from  the  field  of  argument  to  the  solemn  fact  of  war 
41  which  exists  by  the  act  of  the  seceding  States.  The  issue  is  forced  upon 
1  us,  and  must  be  accepted.  Every  man  must  take  his  position  on  one  side 
1  or  on  the  other.  In  time  of  war  there  is  no  ground  upon  which  a  third 
'  party  can  stand.  It  is  the  imperative  duty  of  all  men  to  rally  to  the  sup- 
'  port  of  the  government,  and  to  expend  in  its  behalf,  if  need  be,  their  for- 
'  tunes  and  their  blood.  Upon  the  preservation  of  this  government  depend 
'  our  prosperity  and  greatness  as  a  nation,  our  liberty  and  happiness  as 
'  individuals." 

The  Legislature,  catching  the  Governor's  spirit,  responded 
with  alacrity  to  these  patriotic  sentiments.  It  promptly  enacted 
all  the  legislation  recommended  by  him,  and  in  every  way 
showed  its  perfect  confidence  in  his  judgment  and  patriotism. 
The  appropriation  bills  passed  were  for  general  military  pur 
poses,  §1,000,000  ;  for  the  purchase  of  arms,  §500,000  ;  for 
contingent  military  expenses,  $100,000;  and  for  organizing 
and  supporting  the  State  militia  two  years,  $140,000.  His 
determination  to  be  first  in  the  field,  had  induced  Governor 
Morton;  to  send  agents  to  the  eastern  cities  and  to  Canada  to 
purchase  improved  arms  for  the  Indiana  troops.  The  organ 
ization  of  regiments  was  pushed  forward  so  rapidly  that  within 
ten  days  from  the  President's  call  Indiana's  quota  was  organ 
ized,  and  on  the  25th  of  April  the  whole  six  regiments  were 
mustered  into  the  service,  and  put  upon  a  course  of  thorough 
military  drill.  Before  the  1st  of  May  lie  had  purchased  a 


JHI7ERSIT7 


18  OLIVER  P.  MORTON. 

large  quantity  of  Belgian  rifles  of  an  agent  in  Montreal,  and 
had  contracted  with  a  Cincinnati  foundry  for  eight  brass  six- 
pounders  and  four  twelve-pound  howitzers  for  field  use.  This 
armament  may  seem  small  compared  with  subsequent  opera 
tions,  but  it  was  in  advance  of  the  times,  and  showed  rare 
energy  and  a  full  understanding  of  the  situation.  As  a  result 
of  Governor  Morton's  splendid  management,  Indiana  led  all 
the  Western  States  in  its  preparations  for  hostilities.  He  was 
terribly  in  earnest  in  the  prosecution  of  the  war,  and  infused 
his  earnestness  into  every  person  about  him  and  into  all  the 
people ;  the  consequence  was,  he  was  able  to  accomplish  results 
which  to  those  who  did  not  know  the  man  or  his  manner  of 
working  seemed  incredible.  His  iron  will  carried  all  before 
it,  while  his  capacity  for  labor  seemed  to  have  no  limit.  The 
three  months'  troops  which  constituted  Indiana's  quota  under 
the  first  call,  left  Indianapolis  in  the  latter  part  of  May  for 
"West  Virginia,  where  they  were  soon  engaged  in  active  oper 
ations.  Their  passage  through  Cincinnati  excited  great  enthu 
siasm,  though  their  complete  equipment  and  martial  outfit 
provoked  unfavorable  comparisons.  The  Cincinnati  Gazette 
spoke  in  terms  of  high  admiration  of  Governor  Morton's 
executive  ability,  while  the  Commercial  said; 

"  The  governor  of  Indiana  has  out-generaled  the  governor  of  Ohio.  The 
"  contrast  in  the  condition  of  the  troops  of  the  respective  states  proves  it. 
"The  former  has  sent  four  admirably  equipped  regiments  to  the  battle-field, 
"  and  has  two  more  ready  to  march  at  an  hour's  notice.  The  governor  of 
"Ohio  has  not  a  single  regiment  in  camp  or  in  field,  properly  equipped  for 
"  service.  The  Hoosier  troops  are  all  armed  with  rifle  muskets,  uniformed, 
"  and  are  furnished  with  their  complement  of  camp  equipments.  A  large 
"  number  of  their  rifles  have  sword  bayonets.  Ohio  troops  have  a  few 
"  rifles,  some  of  them  are  uniformed,  and  a  portion  of  them  have  camp 
"equipage;  but  there  is  almost  as  much  difference  in  their  conditions  in 
"  favor  of  the  former  as  there  is  between  raw  militia  and  veteran  troops." 

A  few  days  later,  in  noticing  the  passage  through  Cincin 
nati  of  the  Eighth  and  Tenth  regiments  the  Commercial  said : 

"  The  stout  and  brawny  appearance  of  the  Indiana  troops  was  univer- 
"  sally  remarked.  Napoleon  never  marshaled  better  stuff  into  his  grena- 
"diers.  The  lads  were  bronzed  and  hardy,  and  carried  themselves  with 
"gallant  bearing.  Each  regiment  consisted  of  about  800  men.  They  were 
*  armed  with  the  new  U.  S.  muskets  of  the  most  approved  pattern.  No 
"Ohio  troops  have  such  arms.  "Whose  fault  is  it?" 


ANTICIPATES  THE  SECOND  CALL.  19 

It  is  not  desired  to  exalt  Governor  Morton  at  the  expense 
of  anybody  else,  but  simply  to  recall  what  is  matter  of  his 
tory  and  what  was  universally  admitted  during  the  war,  viz.: 
that  with  one  or  two  exceptions  no  other  Northern  governor 
displayed  as  much  energy,  capacity,  and  executive  ability  as  he. 

The  troops  thus  hurried  to  the  front  had  been  organized, 
fed,  clothed  and  equipped  by  him  without  assistance  from  the 
National  Government.  They  fired  the  first  shots  in  the  war 
west  of  the  Alleganies,  and  were  mainly  instrumental  in  win 
ning  the  earliest  victories. 

In  anticipation  of  a  second  call,  Governor  Morton  pro 
ceeded  immediately  to  organize  five  additional  regiments  of 
twelve  months'  volunteers,  which,  by  an  act  of  the  Legisla 
ture,  were  to  remain  under  his  control  until  needed  by  the 
Government.  The  call  came  May  16,  1861.  It  was  for 
forty-two  thousand  three  years  men,  and  Indiana's  quota  was 
four  regiments.  Governor  Morton  was  prepared  for  this  call 
in  advance,  the  regiments  being  already  organized,  equipped 
and  partially  drilled.  Thus  his  foresight  in  organizing  these 
regiments  proved  of  great  value  to  the  country,  and  enabled 
him  to  respond  upon  the  instant  to  the  President's  second  call 
without  going  through  the  formality  and  delay  of  another 
appeal  to  the  people.  And  so  it  was  all  the  time.  He  either 
anticipated  every  call  for  troops,  or  had  matters  in  such  a 
state  of  preparation  that  no  time  was  lost  in  responding.  His 
system  of  securing  volunteers  was  admirable,  while  his  fac 
ulty  of  stirring  and  rousing  the  people  kept  the  war  feeling 
at  fever  heat.  It  would  be  impossible  within  the  limits  of  a 
sketch  like  this  to  narrate  in  detail  his  vast  and  multifarious 
labors  during  this  period.  He  seemed  to  be  ubiquitous,  now 
in  Washington,  now  at  home,  counseling  with  the  President, 
encouraging  the  people,  organizing  regiments,  hurrying  troops 
to  the  front,  looking  after  those  already  in  the  field,  negotiat 
ing  loans,  organizing  sanitary  commissions,  forwarding  stores 
— in  short,  performing  the  labor  of  a  dozen  meiT^  and  infus 
ing  his  spirit  into  all  with  whom  he  came  in  contact.  He 
was  the  right  arm  of  the  Government  in  the  West,  and  when 
danger  threatened  anywhere  within  striking  distance  from 
Indiana,  Governor  Morton  was  looked  to  for  succor  and 


20  OLIVER  P.  MORTON. 

defense.  Thus,  when  Gen.  Kirby  Smith  was  preparing  to 
invade  Kentucky,  loyal  Kentuckians  turned  to  Morton.  The 
Secretary  of  War  telegraphed  him  to  do  his  utmost  for  the 
defense  of  Kentucky.  General  Boyle,  commanding  the  dis 
trict  of  Kentucky,  telegraphed  from  Frankfort  to  Governor 
Morton  :  "  Rebels  invading  Kentucky.  Send  any  forces 
"you  can  possibly  spare."  General  Buell  telegraphed  him 
from  Huntsville,  Alabama,  that  a  formidable  raid  was  threat 
ening  Kentucky,  and  urging  that  troops  should  be  sent  for 
ward  with  the  utmost  dispatch.  So,  too,  when  Cincinnati 
was  threatened  by  Kirby  Smith,  Major  General  Wright,  com 
manding  the  department,  appealed  to  Governor  Morton  for 
aid  in  the  defense  of  that  city,  which  was  believed  to  be  in 
imminent  danger.  Within  fifteen  hours  from  the  receipt  of 
the  call  he  had  forwarded  by  special  train  two  regiments  of 
infantry,  twenty-four  pieces  of  artillery,  3,000  stand  of  arms, 
31,000  rounds  of  artillery  ammunition,  and  3,365,000  mus 
ket  cartridges — the  ammunition,  by  the  way,  manufactured 
in  the  state  arsenal  established  by  him.  The  governor  and 
his  military  staff  themselves  went  to  Cincinnati  to  assist  in 
organizing  the  troops  and  in  other  defensive  arrangements. 
No  demand  was  too  great,  and  no  call  too  sudden  for  him  to 
meet.  His  energy,  like  his  patriotism,  responded  to  every 
draft. 

HIS    MILITARY    FORESIGHT. 

A  remarkable  characteristic  of  Governor  Morton's  adminis 
tration  was  the  sound  judgment  and  unerring  foresight  with 
which  he  prepared  for  every  military  emergency.  We  do  not 
refer  now  to  the  manner  in  which  he  frequently  anticipated 
and  foreshadowed  the  policy  of  the  government,  but  to  his 
admirable  arrangements  for  meeting  promptly  and  efficiently 
those  demands  which  he  saw  could  not  be  long  postponed. 
Thus  after  the  second  quota  of  the  State  had  been  filled,  and 
when  many  persons  thought  there  would  be  no  further  call  for 
troops,  he  began  to  prepare  for  what  he  knew  could  not  be 
long  delayed.  To  this  end,  while  the  three  months  troops 
were  still  in  the  field,  he  sent  special  messengers  to  urge  them 


VETERAN  RE-ENLISTMENTS.  21 

to  re-enlist  for  three  years  or  for  the  war.  He  represented  to 
them  that  the  war  was  sure  to  last  during  several  campaigns,, 
that  the  government  would  need  more  men  when  the  terms  of 
those  now  in  the  service  should  expire,  and  that  Indiana  would 
certainly  be  called  upon  for  further  aid.  The  result  was  that 
these  regiments  re-enlisted  almost  in  a  body,  and  were  reor 
ganized  in  time  to  respond  with  others  to  the  third  call  for 
troops,  which  was  issued  August  4,  1862.  This  call  was  for 
300,000  men  for  nine  months ;  the  fourth  call,  issued  June  15, 
1863,  was  for  100,000  men  for  six  months;  the  fifth  call, 
October  17,  1863,  was  for  300,000  men  for  three  years ;  the 
sixth  call,  July  18,  1864,  was  for  500,000  men  for  one,  two, 
or  three  years ;  the  seventh  and  last  call,  December  19,  1864, 
was  for  300,000  men  for  one,  two  or  three  years.  Under  these 
various  calls  Indiana  furnished  an  aggregate  of  208,367  men, 
of  whom  all  but  about  17,000  were  volunteers.  Every  call 
was  met  promptly  and  fully,  no  deficiencies  being  left  to  be 
filled  on  subsequent  calls,  and  the  excess,  after  the  quotas  had 
been  filled,  varying  from  two  thousand  to  thirty  thousand. 
This  record  is  a  splendid  and  perpetual  proof  of  the  patriot 
ism  of  the  people  of  Indiana,  and  it  also  reflects  imperishable 
honor  on  the  name  of  Oliver  P.  Morton,  to  whose  personal 
ability  and  exertions  these  great  results  were  so  largely  due. 

VETERAN  RE-ENLISTMENTS." 

Another  evidence  of  his  military  foresight  and  fertility  of 
resources  is  found  in  the  matter  of  veteran  re-enlistments. 
The  policy  adopted  at  the  beginning  of  the  war  of  accepting 
men  for  short  terms  of  enlistment  proved  to  be  unfortunate 
and  embarrassing  in  many  respects.  It  is  easy  to  see  how  the 
constant  expiration  of  enlistments  would  demoralize  and 
weaken  the  army.  The  Government  authorities  underrated 
the  magnitude  of  the  rebellion,  and  perhaps,  also,  the  patriot 
ism  of  the  people.  The  idea  that  the  war  could  be  brought 
to  a  conclusion  in  a  few  months  was  the  parent  of  many  blund 
ers,  one  of  the  most  serious  of  which  was  the  receiving  of  vol 
unteers  for  three,  six,  and  nine  months.  During  the  first  two 
years  of  the  war  the  Government  was  greatly  embarrassed  by 


22  OLIVER  P.  MORTON. 

this  policy,  and  its  military  resources  constantly  weakened  by 
expiring  terms  of  enlistments.  The  only  three  years'  men 
enlisted  during  the  first  two  years  of  the  war  were  those 
under  the  second  call,  and  their  term  of  service  would  expire 
in  the  summer  of  1864.  These  war-worn  veterans  were  the 
main-stay  of  the  Government,  and  the  prospect  of  their  retire 
ment  from  the  service  was  very  discouraging.  Governor 
Morton  was  deeply  impressed  with  the  necessity  of  keeping 
them,  or  as  many  of  them  as  possible,  in  the  army,  and  during 
the  winters  of  1862-3  was  in  frequent  communication  with  the 
Government  authorities  on  this  subject.  This  was  the  darkest 
period  of  the  war.-  The  rebels  were  confident  and  aggressive. 
The  Union  army  was  being  weakened  by  expiring  enlist 
ments  and  desertions,  not  to  speak  of  the  heavy  casualties  of 
war.  Eebel  emissaries  were  actively  at  work  urging  recogni 
tion  abroad,  and  fostering  dissension  in  the  North.  Recruit 
ing  was  difficult,  and  many  true  patriots  began  to  have  mis 
givings  of  the  result.  But  Governor  Morton  never  doubted 
nor  wavered.  He  maintained  that  the  Government  could  and 
must  suppress  the  rebellion  ;  that  all  that  was  needed  was  to 
recruit  the  armies  to  a  point  that  would  render  them  irresis 
tible,  and  then  adopt  a  vigorous  and  aggressive  policy.  Time 
and  again,  in  person  and  by  letter,  he  urged  his  idea  upon  the 
Government  authorities,  accompanying  it  with  a  plan  for  vet 
eran  re-enlistments.  At  length  his  suggestion  took  root.  On 
the  25th  of  June,  1863,  the  War  Department  issued  an  order 
for  recruiting  veteran  volunteers,offering  certain  inducements 
and  prescribing  details.  It  did  not  work  well,  and  the  veteran 
re-enlistments  under  it  were  comparatively  few.  Still  Governor 
Morton  adhered  to  his  idea.  Some  three  months  later,  in 
September,  1863,  he  wrote  to  the  Secretary  of  War  suggest 
ing  another  plan.  He  stated  that  quite  a  number  of  Indiana 
regiments  then  in  the  field  were  so  much  reduced  as  to  have 
less  than  one  hundred  and  fifty  effective  men.  He  suggested 
that  one  regiment  from  each  Congressional  district  in  the 
State,  to  be  selected  by  the  Governor,  should  be  permitted  to 
come  home  and  rendezvous  in  their  respective  districts  for 
recruitment  and  re-organization.  His  idea  was,  that  allowing 
the  men  to  visit  their  homes  would  inspirit  them,  and  that 


INTIMACY  WITH  ME.  LINCOLN.  23 

nearly  every  man  would  become  a  recruiting  officer  among 
his  friends  and  acquaintances.  This  suggestion  was  adopted 
to  the  extent  of  allowing  one  non-commissioned  officer  or  pri- 
ate  from  each  company,  to  be  selected  by  the  regimental  com 
mander,  to  come  home  on  recruiting  service,  and  an  order  to 
this  effect  was  issued  October  23,  1863.  This  worked  well, 
and  resulted  in  securing  a  large  number  of  new  men.  The 
work  of  re-enlisting  veterans  in  the  field,  however,  went  on 
slowly  till  November,  when  the  War  Department  issued  an 
order  allowing  "  a  furlough  of  at  least  thirty  days  previous  to 
"  expiration  of  their  original  enlistment,"  this  stipulation  to 
be  entered  upon  the  re-enlistment  rolls  and  the  men  to  be 
furnished  with  transportation  to  and  from  their  homes  at 
government  expense.  This  modification  was  well  received, 
and  under  it  re-enlistments  went  on  rapidly.  Thus,  this  idea, 
originated  and  persistently  adhered  to  by  Governor  Morton, 
became  at  last  a  source  of  great  military  strength  to  the  Gov 
ernment. 

HIS   INFLUENCE  WITH  THE  ADMINISTRATION. 

From  the  beginning  of  the  war  Governor  Morton  had 
great  influence  with  the  National  administration.  This  was 
due  partly  to  his  recognized  position  as  a  leader  of  the 
Republican  party,  but  more,  doubtless,  to  the  remarkable 
energy,  judgment  and  sagacity  which  he  displayed.  He  was 
the  trusted  friend  and  counselor  of  Lincoln  and  Stanton. 
His  frequent  visits  to  Washington  brought  him  into  close 
personal  contact  and  constant  correspondence  with  both  of 
these  great  men,  and  they  never  failed  to  seek  his  advice  on 
every  pending  question  of  importance.  In  October,  1862, 
he  was  in  Washington  on  business  connected  with  the  war 
department.  The  President  had,  as  usual,  conferred  freely 
with  him  concerning  the  conduct  of  the  war,  the  state  of 
popular  feeling,  etc.  Governor  Morton  had  expressed  him 
self  with  his  usual  force  to  the  effect  that  the  people  and  the 
cause  demanded  more  energy  in  the  prosecution  of  the  war. 
His  conversation  with  the  President  left  him  in  rather  a 


24  OLIVER  P.  MORTON. 

depressed  state  of  mind,  and  after  going  to  the  hotel  he  wrote 
the  following: 

"METROPOLITAN  HOTEL,  WASHINGTON,  October  7,  1862. 
"  His  Excellency,  Abraham  Lincoln,  President  of  the  United  States : 

"DEAE  Sni:  I  could  not  leave  tlie  city  without  addressing  you  this 
"  note,  and  my  intense  solicitude  for  the  success  of  our  cause  must  be  my 
"  apology. 

"  In  my  opinion,  if  our  arms  do  not  make  great  progress  within  the  next 
"  sixty  days,  our  cause  will  be  almost  lost.  *  *  '*  *  The  danger  of 
"  foreign  intervention  is  daily  increasing.  The  length  of  time  which  the 
"  rebels  have  maintained  their  Government  and  the  success  of  their  arms 
"  are  rapidly  furnishing  foreign  nations  with  an  excuse  to  do  what  they 
"  have  desired  to  do  from  the  first— to  recognize  the  Confederacy,  and  aid 
"  it  in  whatever  way  they  can.  You  have  now  immense  armies  in  the  field, 
"  and  all  that  they  require  to  achieve  victory  is,  that  they  be  led  with 
"  energy  and  discretion.  The  cold  professional  leader,  whose  heart  is  not 
"  in  the  cause,  and  who  regards  it  as  only  a  professional  job,  and  whose 
"  rank  and  importance  would  be  greatly  diminished  by  the  conclusion  of 
"  the  war,  will  not  succeed  in  a  contest  like  this.  I  would  rely  with  infin- 
"  itely  more  confidence  upon  the  man  of  strong  intellect,  whose  head  is 
"  inspired  by  his  heart,  who  believes  that  our  cause  is  sacred,  and  that  he 
"  is  fighting  for  all  that  is  dear  to  him  and  his  country,  although  he  be 
"  unlearned  in  military  science,  than  upon  the  cold  and  polished  profes- 
"  sional  soldier,  whose  sympathies,  if  he  have  any,  are  most  likely  on  the 
"  other  side.  It  is  my  solemn  conviction  that  we  will  never  succeed  until 
"  the  leadership  of  our  armies  is  placed  in  the  hands  of  men  who  are  greatly 
"  in  earnest,  and  who  are  profoundly  convinced  of  the  justice  of  our  cause. 
"  Let  me  beg  of  you,  sir,  as  I  am  your  friend,  a  friend  of  your  administra- 
"  tion,  and  the  friend  of  our  unfortunate  and  unhappy  country,  that  you 
"  will  at  once  take  up  the  consideration  of  this  subject,  and  act  upon  the 
"  inspiration  of  your  own  heart  and  the  dictates  of  your  own  judgment 
"  Another  three  months  like  the  last  six  and  we  are  lost — lost.  We  can 
"  not  afford  to  experiment  a  single  day  longer  with  men  who  have  failed 
"  continuously  for  a  whole  year,  who,  with  the  best  appointed  armies,  have 
"done  nothing;  have  thrown  away  the  greatest  advantages;  evacuated 
"  whole  states,  and  retreated  for  hundreds  of  miles  before  an  inferior  enemy. 
"  To  try  them  longer,  trusting  that  they  may  yet  do  something,  it  seems  to 
"  me,  would  be  imperiling  the  life  of  the  nation.  You  have  generals  in 
"  your  armies  who  have  displayed  ability,  energy  and  willingness  to  fight 
"  and  conquer  the  enemy.  Place  them  in  command,  and  reject  the  wicked 
"  incapables  whom  you  have  patiently  tried  and  found  utterly  wanting. 
"  I  am,  with  sentiments  of  great  respect, 

"  Your  obedient  servant, 

"OLIVER  P.  MORTON." 

Quite  early  in  the  war  Governor  Morton  was  impressed 
with  the  fact  that  the  opening  of  the  Mississippi  river  was  of 


OPENING  OF  THE  MISSISSIPPI.  25 

vital  importance  in  a  political  as  well  as  military  point  of 
view.  Not  only  would  it  sever  the  Confederacy  and  cut  off 
a  large  source  of  supplies,  but  it  would  prove  to  the  people 
that  come  what  might,  the  Government  intended  to  hold  the 
great  commercial  artery  of  the  continent.  Throughout  the 
"West  this  was  regarded  as  a  matter  of  prime  importance, 
though  naturally  enough  it  did  not  attract  so  much  attention 
in  the  East,  where  the  nearer  field  of  operations  in  Virginia 
absorbed  all  other  interests.  In  the  early  part  of  1862  there 
began  to  be  considerable  talk  among  western  Democrats  of 
forming  a  Northwestern  Confederacy,  to  act  in  concert  with 
the  Southern  States,  and  to  hold  the  Mississippi  river  in  com 
mon.  It  was  one  of  the  means  adopted  by  them  to  demoral 
ize  the  public  mind,  undermine  the  patriotism  of  the  people, 
and  defeat  the  efforts  of  the  Government  to  preserve  the 
Union.  Little  or  nothing  was  heard  of  this  talk  in  the  East, 
but  in  the  West  it  was  quite  common.  On  the  27th  of 
October,  1862,  Governor  Morton  addressed  a  letter  to  Presi 
dent  Lincoln  on  this  subject,  in  which,  after  referring  to  the 
Northwestern  Confederacy  plan,  and  to  the  use  which  Demo 
cratic  politicians  were  making  of  it,  he  said : 

"  Let  us  take  security  against  it  if  possible,  especially,  when  by  so  doing, 
"  we  shall  be  pursuing  the  surest  mode  for  crushing  out  the  rebellion  in 
"  every  part,  and  restoring  the  Union  to  its  former  limits.  The  plan  which 
"  I  have  to  suggest  is  the  complete  clearing  out  of  all  obstacles  to  the  navi- 
"  gation  of  the  Mississippi  river  and  the  thorough  conquest  of  the  States 
"  upon  the  western  bank.  Between  the  State  of  Missouri  and  the  Gulf  of 
•'  Mexico  on  the  western  bank  are  the  States  of  Arkansas  and  Louisiana. 
"  Arkansas  has  a  population  of  about  325,000  white  citizens  and  111,000 
"  slaves,  and  a  very  large  per  centage  of  her  white  population  are  in  the 
"  rebel  army,  and  serving  east  of  the  Mississippi.  Of  the  fighting  popula- 
"  tion  of  Western  Louisiana,  not  less  than  fifty  per  cent,  are  in  the  rebel 
"  army,  and  in  service  east  of  the  river.  The  river  once  in  our  possession, 
"  and  occupied  by  our  gun-boats,  can  never  be  crossed  by  a  rebel  army,  and 
"  the  fighting  men  now  without  those  States  could  not  get  back  to  their 
"  relief.  To  make  the  conquest  of  those  States  thorough  and  complete,  your 
"proclamation  should  be  executed  in  every  county  and  every  township  and 
"  upon  every  plantation.  All  this  can  be  done  within  ninety  days,  with  an 
"  army  of  less  than  100,000  men.  Texas  would  then  be  entirely  isolated 
"  from  the  rebel  confederacy,  and  would  readily  fall  into  our  hands.  She 
"  has,  undoubtedly,  a  large  Union  element  in  her  population,  and  with  her 
"  complete  separation  from  the  people  of  the  other  rebel  States,  could  make 
M  but  feeble  resistance.  When  this  shall  have  been  accomplished,  a  glance 


26  OLIVER  P.  MORTON. 

"  at  the  map  will  show  what  immense  advantages  will  have  been  obtained. 
"  The  remaining  rebel  States,  separated  by  the  river,  would  be  cut  off  effec- 
"  tually  from  all  the  Territories  and  the  States  of  Mexico.  The  dangers  to 
"  be  apprehended  from  the  French  aggressions  in  Mexico  would  be  avoided. 
"  The  entire  western  part  of  the  continent  now  belonging  to  the  Government 
"  would  be  secured  to  us,  and  all  communication  between  the  rebel  States 
"  and  the  States  on  the  Pacific  entirely  stopped.  The  work  of  conquest  in 
"  Arkansas  and  Louisiana  would  be  easy  and  certain,  and  the  presence  of 
"our  gun-boats  in  the  river  would  effectually  prevent  any  large  force  from 
"  coming  from  the  East  to  the  relief  of  these  States.  The  complete  emancipa- 
"  tion  that  could  and  should  be  made  of  all  the  slaves  in  Arkansas,  Louisiana, 
"  and  Texas,  would  place  the  possession  of  those  States  on  a  very  different 
"  footing  from  any  other  rebel  territory  which  we  have  heretofore  overrun. 
"  But  another  result  to  be  gained  by  the  accomplishment  of  this  plan, 
"will  be  the  creation  of  a  guaranty  against  the  further  depreciation  of  the 
"  loyalty  of  the  North-western  States  by  giving  the  assurance  that,  whatever 
"may  be  the  result  of  the  war,  the  free  navigation  and  control  of  the  Mis- 
"  sissippi  river  will  be  secured  at  all  events." 

These  are  the  views  of  a  statesman.  They  show  that 
the  writer  saw  not  only  the  necessity  of  putting  an  end  to 
the  North-western  Confederacy  agitation,  but  the  vital  import 
ance  to  the  Government  of  splitting  the  Southern  Confeder 
acy  by  opening  the  Mississippi  river,  which  Jefferson  Davis 
at  the  beginning  of  the  war  had  delared  "  the  South  would 
te  never  surrender."  And  so,  in  every  emergency,  Governor 
Morton  was  either  called  into  the  councils  of  the  Government 
or  expressed  his  views  freely  to  the  President  and  Secretary 
of  War,  sometimes  in  person  and  sometimes  by  letter.  The 
appreciation  of  his  services  was  attested  by  frequent  expres 
sions  from  those  high  in  authority,  some  of  which  are  quoted 
further  on. 

THE  HUNDRED  DAYS*  MOVEMENT. 

Another  instance  of  Governor  Morton's  fertility  of  resources 
is  found  in  the  history  of  "  The  Hundred  Days'  Movement." 
The  year  1864  opened  under  gloomy  auspices.  The  result  of 
the  conflict  hung  in  the  balance,  and  it  was  evident  that  every 
effort  would  have  to  be  put  forth  by  the  government  during 
the  ensuing  campaign  if  it  expected  to  maintain  its  ground 
and  press  the  enemy.  Generals  Grant  and  Sherman  were 
urging  that  every  able-bodied  soldier  should  be  sent  to  the 


ORIGIN  OF  THE  "  HUNDRED  DA  YS  MO  FEMENT."        27 


front.  The  grand  Atlanta  and  Richmond  campaigns  were 
about  to  be  opened,  which,  if  successful,  there  was  reason  to 
hope,  would  virtually  end  the  war.  But  to  this  end  a  great 
and  united  effort  was  necessary.  General  Sherman  was  in 
almost  constant  telegraphic  correspondence  with  Governor 
Morton,  his  main  reliance  in  the  West,  exchanging  views  and 
offering  advice  in  regard  to  the  equipment  and  forwarding  of 
troops.  About  this  time  Governor  Morton  conceived  an  idea 
which  took  shape  and  culminated  in  important  results.  His 
aim  was  to  devise  a  plan  by  which  all  the  trained  soldiers 
could  be  sent  to  the  front  for  active  service  during  the  summer 
campaign,  and  their  places  be  supplied  by  new  men  enlisted 
for  a  short  period,  who  could  thus  relieve  more  experienced 
troops  by  guarding  communications,  supply  depots,  etc.  It 
was  a  happy  idea,  but  in  order  to  give  it  the  greatest  effective 
ness  other  Western  States  must  co-operate  with  Indiana.  The 
plan  was  fully  matured  in  Governor  Morton's  mind,  and  had 
been  freely  talked  over  with  members  of  his  military  staff, 
when  Governor  Brough,  of  Ohio,  happening  to  be  in  Indian 
apolis  on  private  business,  Governor  Morton  laid  his  plan 
before  that  official,  and  urged  its  adoption.  Governor  Brough 
saw  its  importance,  and  at  once  approved  it.  It  was  agreed 
between  them  that  a  meeting  of  Northwestern  Governors 
should  be  held  at  Washington  as  soon  as  possible,  and  a 
<jo-operative  plan  of  action  agreed  upon.  This  was  the  origin 
of  "  The  Hundred  Days'  Movement."  This  was  early  in 
April,  1864.  On  the  llth,  dispatches  were  sent  from  Indian- 
Governors  of  Illinois,  _Iowa,  Wisconsin  and 

rernors  of  Ohio  and 
onsult  on  important 
11  of  the  Governors 
rernor  of  Michigan, 
meeting  Governor 
nd  a  plan  of  opera- 
>ceeded  immediately 
i  Government.  The 
llowing  proposition 


28  OLIVER  P.  MORTON. 

"  To  the  President  of  the  United  States  : 

"  I.  The  Governors  of  Ohio,  Indiana,  Illinois,  Iowa  and  Michigan  offer 
"  to  the  President  infantry  troops  for  the  approaching  campaign,  as  follows : 

Ohio 30,000 

Indiana 20,000 

Illinois 20,000 

Iowa 10,000 

Wisconsin 5,000 

"  II.  The  term  of  service  to  be  one  hundred  days,  reckoned  from  the 
"  date  of  muster  into  the  service  of  the  United  States,  unless  sooner  discharged. 

"  III.  The  troops  to  be  mustered  into  the  United  States  service  by  regi- 
"  ments,  when  the  regiments  are  filled  up,  according  to  regulations,  to  the 
"  minimum  strength — the  regiments  to  be  organized  according  to  the  regu- 
"  lations  of  the  War  Department.  The  whole  number  to  be  furnished  within 
".twenty  days  from  the  date  of  notice  of  the  acceptance  of  this  proposition. 

"  IV.  The  troops  to  be  clothed,  armed,  equipped,  subsisted,  transported, 
"  and  paid  as  other  United  States  infantry  volunteers,  and  to  serve  in  forti- 
"  fications,  or  wherever  else  their  services  may  be  required,  within  or  with- 
"  out  their  respective  States. 

"  V.  No  bounty  to  be  paid  the  troops,  nor  the  service  charged  or  credited 
"  to  any  draft. 

"  VI.  The  draft  for  three  years'  services  to  go  on  in  any  State  or  district 
"  where  the  quota  is  not  filled  up  ;  but  if  any  officer  or  soldier  in  this  spe- 
"  cial  service  should  be  drafted,  he  shall  be  credited  for  the  service  rendered. 

"  JOHN  BROUGH,  Governor  of  Ohio. 
"  O.  P   MORTON,  Governor  of  Indiana. 
"  EICHARD  YATES,  Governor  of  Illinois. 
"  WM.  M.  STONE,  Governor  of  Iowa. 
"  JAMES  T.  LEWIS,  Governor  of  Wisconsin. 

"  The  foregoing  proposition  of  the  Governors  is  accepted,  and  the  Secre- 
"  tary  of  War  is  directed  to  carry  it  into  execution. 

"April  24, 1864.  A.  LINCOLN." 

The  acceptance  of  this  proposition  was  telegraphed  to  Indi 
anapolis  even  before  the  fact  was  published,  and  a  call  was 
immediately  issued  for  the  troops.  The  other  States  joined 
heartily  in  the  movement,  and  the  result  was  that  a  large 
force  of  hundred  days'  men  was  furnished  to  relieve  from 
guard  duty  the  veteran  troops,  who  were  so  much  needed  at 
the  front.  The  sole  credit  of  originating  this  important  move 
ment  belongs  to  Governor  Morton. 


rV 

tftfNIV 

MEASURES  OF  STATE  DEFE1 


HIS  MEASURES  OF  STATE  DEFENCE. 

But  Governor  Morton's  military  zeal  did  not  stop  with 
responding  to  the  calls  of  the  General  Government.  His 
energy  seemed  to  know  no  bounds,  and  the  more  he  accomp 
lished  the  more  he  desired  to  accomplish.  While  contributing 
so  largely  and  constantly  to  the  National  army,  he  organized  an 
effective  military  force  in  Indiana  to  meet  emergencies  which 
he  foresaw  would  arise.  The  position  of  Indiana  as  a  border 
State,  the  disloyal  attitude  of  Kentucky,  and  the  disaffection 
existing  in  some  of  the  Southern  counties  convinced  him  at 
the  beginning  of  the  war  that  there  would  be  need  of  a  State 
militia,  to  repel  hostile  incursions  and  protect  the  State.  At 
a  special  session 'in  1861,  the  Legislature  passed,  May  llth, 
an  act  for  the  organization  of  the  militia,  dividing  the  whole 
arms-bearing  population  in  the  State  into  active  and  sedentary 
militia,  under  the  name  and  style  of  the  Indiana  Legion. 
Shortly  after  the  passage  of  this  act,  Governor  Morton  took 
steps  for  the  organization  of  the  Legion.  Competent  officers 
were  detailed  for  the  work  and  a  camp  of  instruction  was 
established  at  Indianapolis.  This  movement  resulted  in  the 
enrollment  of  about  50,000  men,  and  supplied  a  force  that 
rendered  effective  service  on  various  occasions  in  repelling 
invasions,  guarding  prisoners,  and  preserving  the  peace  of 
the  State.  For  a  long  period  before  the  war  the  State  had  no 
militia  law,  and  the  work  of  organizing  and  regulating  a 
State  militia  was  one  of  great  difficulty ;  but  it  was  success 
fully  accomplished  even  amid  the  enormous  pressure  of  other 
duties,  and  more  than  once  during  the  war  the  Indiana 
Legion  became  an  important  factor  in  military  operations. 

GOVERNOR  MORTON'S  RELATIONS  TO  KENTUCKY. 

The  course  pursued  by  Kentucky  during  the  war  will  be 
well  remembered  by  most  readers.  While  a  large  majority  of 
her  people  were  unquestionably  in  favor  of  the  Union,  there 
was  also  a  strong  and  active  rebel  sentiment.  At  the  begin 
ning  of  the  war  she  had  a  disloyal  governor,  Beriah  Magoffin, 


30  OLIVER  P.  MORTON. 

and  the  Union  people  of  the  North  feared  the  worst  results 
from  his  treachery.  It  was  especially  important  to  Indiana 
that  Kentucky  should  remain  in  the  Union,  as  in  the  event 
of  her  secession,  or  of  the  rebels  gaining  a  permanent  foot 
hold  there,  the  war  would  almost  certainly  have  been  trans 
ferred  to  Indiana.  In  his  message  to  the  special  session  of 
the  Legislature  in  April,  1861,  Governor  Morton  said : 

"  To  our  sister  state  of  Kentucky  we  turn  with  hope  and  affection.  She 
41  has  grown  rich  and  prosperous  in  the  Kepublic ;  could  she  do  more  if  she 
"  were  out  of  it?  It  would  be  a  sad  day  that  would  sever  the  bond  which 
"  binds  these  states  together,  and  place  us  in  separate  and  hostile  nations. 
"  I  appeal  to  her  by  the  ties  of  our  common  kindred  and  history;  by  our 
"  community  of  interest,  by  the  sacred  obligations  that  bind  us  to  maintain 
(:  the  Constitution  inviolate,  to  adhere  to  the  Union,  and  stand  fast  by  that 
"  flag  in  defense  of  which  she  has  so  often  shed  her  best  blood.  I  pray  her 
"to  examine  her  past  history  and  perceive  how  the  tide  of  her  prosperity 
"has  flowed  on  unbroken,  and  ever  increasing,  until  her  limits  are  filled 
"  with  material  wealth  and  her  people  are  respected,  elevated  and  happy ; 
"  and  then  inquire  if  all  this  is  not  the  result  of  that  Union  she  is  called 
11  upon  to  break,  and  of  that  government  she  is  invited  to  dishonor  and 
"  overthrow.  To  ask  Kentucky  to  secede,  is  to  ask  her  to  commit  foul  dis- 
"  honor  and  suicide.  I  trust  that  the  good  sense  and  patriotism  of  her  peo- 
"  pie  will  not  suffer  her  to  be  dragged  by  the  current  of  events,  which  has 
"  been  cunningly  invented  for  that  purpose,  into  the  vortex  of  disunion  ; 
"nor  permit  her  to  be  artfully  inveigled  into  an  armed  neutrality  between 
"  the  rebellious  states  and  the  Federal  Government.  Such  a  position  would 
"  be  anomalous  and  fatal  to  the  peace  and  perpetuity  of  the  Union.  There 
"  is  no  ground  in  the  Constitution  midway  between  a  rebellious  state  and 
u  the  Federal  Government  upon  which  she  can  stand,  holding  both  in  check 
"  and  restraining  the  Government  from  the  enforcement  of  the  laws  and  the 
"exercise  of  its  constitutional  authority.  Such  an  attitude  is  at  once 
"unconstitutional  and  hostile.  At  a  time  like  this,  if  she  is  not  for  the 
"  Government,  aiding  and  maintaining  it  by  the  observance  of  all  her  con- 
"  stitutional  obligations,  she  is  against  it.  If  the  voice  of  her  people  can 
"be  heard,  I  fear  not  the  result.  Secession  can  only  triumph,  as  it  has 
"triumphed  in  other  states,  by  stifling  the  voice  of  the  people,  and  by  the 
"  bold  usurpation,  by  demagogues  and  traitors,  of  the  powers  which  right- 
"  fully  belong  to  them  alone." 

These  sentiments  met  with  no  response  in  the  heart  of 
Kentucky's  Governor,  and  the  Union  men  of  that  State  soon 
found  they  had  nothing  to  hope  for  from  him.  To  President 
Lincoln's  first  call  for  troops  he  responded  with  an  insolent 
refusal,  and  took  occasion  to  air  his  treason  under  the  guise 
of  "  Kentucky  neutrality."  His  heart  was  with  the  rebels, 


KENTUCKY  NEUTRALITY.  31 

and  most  of  his  personal  associates  were  open  sympathizers 
with  treason.  Though  he  could  not  carry  Kentucky  out  of 
the  Union,  he  succeeded  for  a  time  in  preventing  her  from 
doing  her  duty  as  part  of  it.  His  senseless  prate  about  "  armed 
neutrality  "  became  odious  throughout  the  loyal  North,  and 
fixed  a  stain  upon  Kentucky's  name  from  which  it  has  scarcely 
yet  recovered.  Finally,  in  May,  1861,  he  actually  issued  a 
proclamation,  in  which  he  said : 

"  I  hereby  notify  and  warn  all  other  States,  separate  or  united,  and  espe- 
41  cially  the  United  and  Confederate  States,  that  I  solemnly  forbid  any  move- 
"  ment  on  Kentucky  soil,  or  occupation  of  any  post  or  place  therein,  for  any 
"purpose  -whatever,  until  authorized  by  invitation  or  permission  of  the 
41  legislative  or  executive  authorities." 

As  there  was  no  imminent  danger  at  that  time  of  a  Southern 
army  marching  North,  the  evident  purpose  of  this  proclama 
tion  was  to  prevent  the  United  States  forces  from  entering  or 
passing  through  the  State  to  reach  the  rebels.  About  the  mid 
dle  of  June  General  McClellan  actually  made  a  treaty  with 
Governor  Magoffin/virtually  recognizing  Kentucky's  "  neu 
trality,"  and  binding  the  Government  to  allow  no  troops  to 
enter  on  Kentucky  soil  "  unless  invited  to  do  so  by  the  state 
authorities."  It  is  needless  to  say  that  this  policy  and  these 
events  utterly  demoralized  the  Union  men  of  Kentucky. 
Some  of  them  lost  heart  altogether,  and  were  cajoled  or  forced 
into  abandoning  their  views.  Others  adopted  a  sort  of  mid 
dle  course,  which  gave  rise  to  the  term  "  Kentucky  Unionism." 
Others,  still,  and  they  were  a  majority,  remained  true  to  the 
flag.  At  an  early  day,  however,  they  lost  all  faith  in  Magof- 
fin,  and  looked  to  Governor  Morton  for  counsel,  aid  and 
succor. 

From  the  day  of  the  firing  on  Fort  Sumter  Governor  Mor 
ton  recognized  the  vital  importance  both  in  a  political  and 
military  point  of  view,  of  holding  Kentucky  in  the  Union, 
and  was  untiring  in  his  efforts  to  this  end.  Early  in  May, 
1861,  he  prepared  a  memorial  to  the  President,  in  which  the 
Governors  of  Ohio  and  Illinois  joined,  urging  the  Govern 
ment  "  at  an  early  day  to  take  possession,  in  force,  of  promi- 
"  nent  points  in  Kentucky,  such  as  Louisville,  Covington, 
"Newport,  Columbus,  etc.,  and  the  railroads  leading  from 


32  OLIVER  P.  MORTON. 

"  them  to  the  South."  For  this  work  they  recommended  that 
loyal  Kentuckians  should  be  used  if  they  could  be  found,  and 
they  added : 

"  If  Kentuckians  can  not  be  found,  United  States  regulars  would  be  the 
"  next  best  for  the  purpose ;  but  in  our  judgment  they  should  be  occupied 
"  at  an  early  day,  if  it  has  to  be  done  by  the  volunteer  forces  from  adjoin- 
"  ing  states.  We  believe  this  course  will  save  Kentucky  to  the  Union,  other- 
"  wise  that  in  the  end  the  secessionists  will  control  her." 

But  the  Government  was  slow  to  move,  and  "  Kentucky 
neutrality"  was  treated  very  tenderly.  In  June,  1861,  the 
gallant  and  loyal  Rousseau  determined  to  raise  a  force  of 
Kentucky  Unionists,  and  received  authority  from  the  Presi 
dent  to  that  end.  At  a  public  meeting,  however,  held  in 
Louisville,  it  was  decided  that  the  encampment  ought  not  to 
be  in  Kentucky,  and  Rousseau  was  accordingly  invited  to 
establish  his  camp  and  rendezvous  at  Jeffersonville,  in  this 
State.  Thus  Indiana  furnished  the  first  rallying  point  for 
the  Kentucky  Unionists.  At  this  time  Governor  Morton  was 
in  constant  communication  with  General  Rousseau  and  other 
loyal  Kentuckians,  encouraging  and  aiding  them  by  every 
means  in  his  power.  He  gave  permission  to  citizens  of  Indiana 
to  enlist  in  Kentucky  regiments,  and  allowed  a  company  of 
cavalry  in  Knox  county  and  one  in  Dearborn  county  to  be 
recruited  for  a  Kentucky  regiment.  He  also  exerted  himself 
to  procure  arms  for  the  Kentucky  troops  who,  having  no 
Governor  to  look  after  their  wants,  had  to  rely  on  Governor 
Morton  for  this  and  numberless  other  services.  Meanwhile, 
events  followed  each  other  rapidly,  and  "  Kentucky  neutral 
ity  "  was  swept  out  of  sight.  The  new  Legislature  having 
by  a  large  majority  decided  to  remain  in  the  Union,  the  rebels 
determined  to  invade  the  State,  and  in  September  General 
Zollicoffer  entered  it  in  force.  This  movement  created  wide 
spread  alarm  in  Kentucky.  On  the  2d  of  October,  1861, 
Governor  Morton  issued  a  proclamation  to  the  people  of 
Indiana,  in  which,  after  reciting  the  invasion  of  Kentucky, 
he  said : 

"  These  rebel  troops  have  entered  the  State  from  the  southeast  through 
"  the  Cumberland  Gap ;  also,  from  the  southwest,  occupying  Columbus  and 
"other  points,  but  chiefly  from  the  direction  of  Nashville,  toward  Louis- 
"ville,  seizing  and  holding  the  Nashville  and  Louisville  road,  up  to  within 


DEFENDS  KENTUCKY.  33 

"  forty  miles  of  Louisville.  A  glance  at  the  map  will  show  the  immense 
"  importance  of  their  position,  and  the  advantages  they  have  gained.  From 
"  their  camps  south  of  Louisville  they  can  communicate,  by  railroad,  with. 
"  every  seceding  State  but  two  ;  and  can  thus  transport  to  their  aid,  in  a 
"  few  hours,  men  and  munitions  of  war  from  every  part  of  the  South.  It 
"  is  the  determination  of  the  invaders  and  conspirators  to  subjugate  the 
"  loyal  people  of  Kentucky,  and  sieze  for  plunder  and  vengeance  the 
"  wealthy  and  populous  cities  on  the  border  of  Ohio  and  Indiana. 

"  It  should  require  no  argument  or  appeal  now,  to  arouse  the  people  of 
"  Indiana  to  put  forth  all  their  strength.  When  our  State  was  in  her 
"  infancy,  the  brave  men  of  Kentucky  came  to  the  rescue  of  our  people 
"  from  the  scalping-knife  of  the  savage,  and  their  blood  is  mingled  with  our 
"  soil  on  many  a  field.  And  shall  we  not  stand  by  Kentucky  now,  in  this, 
"  her  hour  of  peril  ?  Not  to  do  so,  were  base  ingratitude  and  criminal 
"  folly.  We  can  best  defend  Indiana  by  repelling  the  invader  from  Ken- 
"  tucky,  and  carry  the  war  thence  to  the  hearts  of  the  rebellious  States. 
*  -s  »•*••••  4 

"  I,  therefore,  call  upon  all  men  capable  of  bearing  arms,  and  who  can 
"  leave  their  homes,  to  cast  aside  their  ordinary  pursuits  and  enroll  them- 
"  selves  in  the  ranks  of  the  army.  Let  the  farmer  leave  his  plow,  the  mer- 
"  chant  his  store,the  mechanic  his  workshop,  the  banker  his  exchange,  and 
''  the  professional  man  his  office,  and  devote  themselves  to  their  country, 
"  and  by  enrolling  themselves  either  in  the  armies  of  the  General  Govern- 
"  ment  or  under  the  military  law  of  the  State,  be  prepared  to  defend  their 
"  country  and  their  homes.  Every  man  in  the  State  capable  of  bearing 
"  arms  should  be  in  the  service  of  the  General  Government  or  the  State. 
"  Let  personal  ease  and  private  interests  submit  to  the  overruling  necessities 
"  of  the  hour,  and  let  us  show  the  world,  by  the  sacrifices  we  are  willing  to 
"  make  in  person  and  property,  that  we  are  worthy  of  our  sires,  and  deserve 
"to  retain  the  inheritance  they  have  bequeathed  to  us." 

At  this  time  Indiana's  quota  was  already  more  than  full, 
but  this  appeal  gave  a  new  impulse  to  volunteering  and  resulted 
in  large  accessions  to  the  Union  forces.  The  troops  now 
recruited  were  speedily  organized,  equipped  and  sent  into 
Kentucky,  some  of  them  joining  BuelPs  command  south  of 
Louisville,  and  others  going  to  meet  Zollicoffer  in  the  south- 
cast.  Without  tracing  in  detail  the  movements  that  followed, 
it  is  enough  to  say  that  they  ended  in  completely  breaking  the 
rebel  power  in  Kentucky,  and  driving  them  from  the  State. 
Governor  Morton's  energy  in  this  emergency  was  universally 
recognized  as  of  immense  value  to  Kentucky  and  the  Union 
cause. 

So,  also,  when  General  Kirby  Smith  made  his  formidable 
6 


34  OLIVER  P.  MORTON. 

raid  into  Kentucky,  in  August,  1862,  the  Unionists  of  Ken 
tucky  and  the  officers  in  command  turned  at  once  to  Governor 
Morton  for  aid.  August  10,  General  Boyle  telegraphed  him 
that  the  rebels  were  invading  Kentucky,  and  begged  him  to 
send  any  forces  he  could  possibly  spare.  On  the  llth  he  sent 
seven  companies,  fully  armed  and  equipped,  to  Frankfort.  On 
the  same  day,  in  compliance  with  General  Boyle's  requisition, 
he  sent  two  car  loads  of  ammunition  to  Frankfort,  from  the 
Indiana  arsenal.  On  the  12th  a  dispatch  came  from  General 
Buell,  urging  Governor  Morton  to  forward  all  the  troops  he 
could  to  General  'Boyle  in  Kentucky.  On  the  13th  a  full 
regiment  left  Indianapolis  for  Louisville,  and  reported  to  the 
commanding  officer  at  Bowling  Green  on  the  15th.  On  the 
16th  another  regiment  was  sent,  and  still  another  on  the  17th. 
During  the  next  ten  days  troops  were  forwarded  at  the  rate  of 
from  one  to  three  regiments  per  day.  At  this  time  an  inci 
dent  occurred,  illustrative  of  Governor  Morton's  fertility  of 
resources  and  promptness  of  action.  While  every  nerve  was 
being  strained  to  get  troops  into  Kentucky  a  difficulty  arose 
from  the  fact  that  the  funds  to  pay  the  advance  bounty  to 
which  a  certain  regiment  was  entitled  had  not  been  forwarded 
from  Washington.  Many  'of  the  men  had  left  their  homes 
suddenly,  without  providing  for  the  maintenance  of  their  fami 
lies,  expecting  to  receive  the  stipulated  bounty-money  in  time 
to  remit  it  before  going  to  the  field.  They  felt  a  natural 
reluctance  to  leaving  the  State,  with  the  chances  of  battle  in 
the  immediate  future,  unless  the  wants  of  their  families  could 
be  at  least  temporarily  provided  for.  Governor  Morton 
addressed  the  troops,  explaining  the  urgent  necessity  of  their 
instant  departure,  and  proposed  to  send  the  money  to  them  as 
soon  as  it  could  be  obtained.  Every  murmur  was  hushed, 
and  the  men,  with  cheerful  alacrity,  shouldered  their  guns  and 
started  for  the  front.  On  the  morning  of  the  19th,  the  Gov 
ernor  effected  an  arrangement  with  citizens  and  bankers  of 
Indianapolis  and  Cincinnati  for  an  advance  of  nearly  half  a 
million  dollars,  and  during  that  day  and  the  succeeding  night 
four  regiments  were  mustered,  paid  and  started  for  Kentucky. 
By  the  next  evening  three  more  regiments  had  been  paid  and 
started.  The  bounty-money  due  the  regiment  which  left 


DEFENDS  KENTUCKY.  35 

without  being  paid  was  forwarded  to  Kentucky  and  paid  them 
on  the  Richmond  battle  field,  half  an  hour  before  the  action 
opened. 

The  battle  of  Richmond,  fought  on  the  29th  and  30th 
of  August,  1862,  though  resulting  disastrously  to  the  Union 
troops,  checked  General  Smith's  advance,  and  gave  time 
to  put  Cincinnati,  which  was  his  objective  point,  in  a 
state  of  defense.  In  this  battle  there  were  six  Indiana,  one 
Kentucky  and  one  Ohio  regiment,  besides  some  Kentucky 
cavalry.  The  opposing  force  was  nearly  three  times  as  great. 
The  Indiana  troops  had  only  been  in  the  service  from  two  to 
three  weeks;  the  rebels  wrerc  veterans.  In  a  dispatch  to 
President  Lincoln,  dated  Sept.  1,  General  Boyle  said : 

"  Our  troops,  especially  the  Indianians,  fought  with  the  courage  and  gal- 
"  antry  of  veterans.  If  Ohio  and  Illinois  had  supported  Indiana,  and  had 
"  sent  their  troops  on,  the  issue  of  the  battle  would  have  been  different. 
"  Governor  Morton  has  sent  to  this  state  since  I  have  been  in  command  here 
"  over  twenty  thousand  men.  If  other  states  had  done  so  well  we  could 
"  have  overwhelmed  the  enemy.  I  deplore  the  loss  that  noble  Indiana  has 
"  sustained  under  the  circumstances.  It  was  important  to  meet  the  enemy 
"  before  he  reached  the  center  of  the  state  or  crossed  it,  and  Indiana,  appre- 
"  ciating  the  importance  of  it,  sent  her  gallant  soldiers  to  meet  the  foe,  no 
"  doubt  feeling  that  they  would  be  supported  by  Ohio,  Illinois  and  Ken 
tucky." 

Again,  in  May,  1864,  when  Morgan  invaded  Kentucky, 
General  Burbridge  telegraphed  to  Governor  Morton  for  four 
regiments.  The  response  was:  "One  regiment  leaves  to- 
"  night,  another  to-morrow,  and  two  more  next  day."  A  fort 
night  later  word  came  from  Louisville :  "  The  city  is  in  dan- 
"  ger.  We  want  four  or  five  thousand  men."  Troops  were 
sent  immediately.  The  same  day  General  Hobson  telegraphed 
from  Covington  for  "  any  troops  you  can  send  me  to  Louisville 
"  or  Frankfort."  Kentucky  had  then  taken  every  man  of 
Indiana's  troops  that  the  Governor  had.  He  called  out  the 
militia  of  several  counties,  and  placed  it  in  the  best  position 
for  service  either  at  home  or  across  the  Ohio.  A  regiment  of 
re-enlisted  veterans,  arriving  at  Indianapolis  on  the  short  fur 
lough  given  to  re-enlisted  men,  at  once  volunteered  to  go  to 
Kentucky,  and  were  promptly  sent  to  the  relief  of  Governor 
Bramlette,  besieged  in  Frankfort.  A  portion  of  the  Indiana 


36  OLIVER  P.  MORTON. 

Legion  was  sent  to  guard  the  Louisville  and  Nashville  Rail 
road.  By  every  effort,  and  at  every  point,  Indiana  threw  her 
self  forward  to  protect  Kentucky.  Thus  repeatedly  and  in 
every  emergency  Governor  Morton  came  to  the  rescue  of  Ken 
tucky  during  the  war,  until  he  actually  became  known  in 
familiar  parlance  as  the  Governor  of  Indiana  and  Kentucky. 
His  great  services  in  this  regard  were  fully  appreciated  at  the 
time,  and  are  still  remembered  by  the  Union  men  of  Kentucky. 
In  acknowledoino;  them  after  one  of  the  invasions  above  refer- 

O        O 

red  to,  the  Louisville  Journal  (the  lamented  George  D.  Pren 
tice  being  the  writer)  said : 

"He  has  been  emphatically  Kentucky's  guardian  spirit  from  the  very 
"  commencement  of  the  dangers  that  threatened  her  existence.  Kentucky 
"  and  the  whole  country  owe  him  a  large  debt  of  gratitude.  Oh,  that  all 
"the  public  functionaries  of  the  country  were  as  vigilant,  as  clear-sighted, 
"  as  energetic,  as  fearless,  as  chivalric  as  he." 

The  Lexington  Observer  said  : 

"  There  is  no  man  in  the  nation  to  whom  Kentucky  owes  a  larger  debt  of 
"  gratitude  than  to  Governor  Morton,  of  Indiana.  *  *  *  She  is  under 
"  an  obligation  to  him  that  she  will  never  forget.  It  has  been  well  that, 
"  having  virtually  no  Governor  of  her  own,  she  could  find  so  invaluable  a 
"  friend  in  the  Governor  of  a  neighboring  State." 

And  only  recently  a  prominent  Kentucky  Unionist  writes : 

'  What  Kentucky  Union  soldier,  whose  heart  does  not  bound  at  the  men- 
"  tion  of  his  name  ?  I  recollect  well,  as  do  hundreds  of  others,  when  the  regi- 
"  ment  to  which  I  was  attached  would  have  starved  to  death,  after  a  long 
"  and  bloody  battle,  but  for  his  promptness,  energy,  and  determination.  He 
"  took  the  responsibility  when  other  men  would  have  hesitated  and  halted, 
"  and  our  regiment  have  gone  to  pieces? 

"  How  easy  it  is  to  forget !  In  how  many  critical  emergencies  did  this 
"  man  step  to  the  front  just  in  the  nick  of  time  and  save  us.  No  wonder 
"  rebels  hate  him.  He  was  an  army  in  himself.  His  influence,  which  per- 
"  vaded  the  Nation,  inspired  every  State,  placed  Indiana  at  the  topmost  pin- 
"  nacle  of  honor  and  glory,  and  saved  Kentucky.  Kentucky  was  a  sort  of 
"an  orphan  during  the  rebellion — a  lone  child,  over  whose  inheritance  rel- 
"  atives  furiously  were  fighting,  while  it  was  likely  to  die  of  starvation  and 
"  neglect.  But  for  Morton's  sheltering  wing,  they  would  have  divided  our 
"  garments  and  cast  lots  for  our  inheritance,  thrusting  us  naked  into  the 
"pit." 


THE  SOLDIERS'  FRIEND.  37 


HIS  CAKE  FOR  SOLDIERS  AND  THEIR  FAMILIES. 

No  sketch  of  Governor  Morton's  military  administration 
would  be  complete  without  at  least  a  reference  to  the  admira 
ble  system  which  he  organized  and  conducted  for  the  relief  of 
soldiers  and  their  families.  This  feature  of  his  administration 
was  prominent  from  the  beginning  of  the  war,  and  finally 
became  so  conspicuous  as  to  excite  scarcely  less  admiration 
than  his  energy  in  raising  and  equipping  troops.  By  his  per 
sistent  efforts  the  first  Indiana  troops  put  in  the  field  were 
better  equipped  than  those  of  any  other  State.  In  the  fall  of 
1861,  being  unable  to  get  a  supply  of  overcoats  from  the  Gen 
eral  Government  in  time  to  protect  the  men  from  approach 
ing  winter,  he  went  to  New  York  and  purchased  twenty-nine 
thousand  overcoats.  For  a  portion  he  paid  the  regular  gov 
ernment  price,  $7  75,  and  for  the  remainder  §9  25  each.  They 
were  immediately  forwarded,  and  the  men  made  comfortable. 
On  presentation  of  the  bill,  the  Quartermaster  General  refused 
to  pay  more  than  the  regulation  price  on  any  of  the  coats, 
leaving  the  difference  of  $1  50  on  a  large  number  of  coats  to 
be  settled  by  the  State.  When  informed  of  this  decision, 
Governor  Morton  replied,  "  Indiana  will  not  allow  her  troops 
"  to  suffer  if  it  be  in  her  power  to  prevent  it,  and  if  the  Gen- 
"  eral  Government  will  not  purchase  supplies  at  current  rates, 
"  Indiana  will."  And  that  was  his  spirit  from  the  beginning. 
But  cold  weather  was  approaching.  It  was  the  first  winter 
of  the  war,  and  the  men  were  not  yet  accustomed  to  the  hard 
ships  nor  inured  to  the  exposure  of  campaign  life.  They 
needed  many  things,  some  of  which  the  government  could 
not  furnish  rapidly  enough,  and  some  of  which  were  unknown 
to  the  regulations.  To  meet  this  want,  the  Governor  issued  a 
proclamation  to  the  patriotic  women  of  Indiana,  calling  on 
them  to  do  what  they  could  for  their  sons  and  brothers  in  the 
field.  They  were  requested,  either  singly  or  by  associations, 
to  set  about  the  manufacture  of  woolen  shirts,  drawers,  socks 
and  gloves.  He  said  : 

"  The  sewing  societies  of  our  churches  have  a  wide  field  for  exertion,  wider 
"  and  grander  than  they  will  ever  find  again.  Will  they  not  give  their 


38  OLIVER  P.  MORTON. 

'associations  for  a  time  to  this  beneficent  object ?  The  numerous  female 
'benevolent  societies,  by  giving  their  energies  and  organizations  to  this 
'  work,  can  speedily  provide  the  necessary  supply.  Let  women  through  the 
'  country,  who  have  no  opportunity  to  join  such  associations,  emulate  each 
'  other  in  their  labors,  and  see  who  shall  do  most  for  their  country  and  its 
'  defenders  in  this  hour  of  trial." 

In  response  to  this  appeal,  an  immense  quantity  of  the  above 
mentioned  articles  and  other  comforts  were  contributed  by  the 
women,  and  forwarded  to  the  soldiers.  This  was  the  first 
organized  effort  of  any  State  to  make  special  provisions  for 
its  soldiers,  and  was  the  forerunner  of  all  the  sanitary  com 
missions.  By  degrees  it  expanded  into  a  system  whose  benefi 
cent  operations  were  felt  in  all  the  armies  of  the  "Union. 
Governor  Morton  also  organized  the  "  General  Military 
Agency  of  Indiana,"  for  the  special  benefit  of  Indiana  sol 
diers.  A  gentleman  of  well  known  energy  and  probity  of 
character  was  appointed  General  Agent,  to  whom  was  entrusted 
the  receipt  and  distribution  of  all  sanitary  supplies,  the  sup 
ervision  of  local  Agencies,  and  the  direction  of  all  matters 
relating  to  the  relief  of  soldiers.  A  large  number  of  local 
and  field  agents  were  appointed.  The  former  had  local  officers 
at  various  points  near  the  field  of  operations.  They  were 
required  to  make  their  offices  the  homes  of  soldiers ;  to  assist 
them  in  getting  transportation  in  returning  home,  when  they 
had  no  money  or  Government  passes  ;  to  provide  them  cloth 
ing  when,  as  was  too  often  the  case,  they  were  ragged  and 
necessitous ;  to  feed  them ;  to  facilitate  every  proper  purpose  ; 
to  take  charge  of  returning  prisoners,  and  to  provide  every 
thing  which  their  shocking  destitution  demanded ;  and,  in 
short,  to  exercise  a  careful  guardianship  over  Indiana  sol 
diers  in  every  possible  way.  Field  agents  were  expected  not 
only  to  look  after  the  health  and  comfort  of  the  men,  but  to 
write  letters,  to  take  charge  of  commissions  for  them  to  their 
friends  and  relatives,  to  see  to  the  burial  of  the  dead,  and  the 
preservation  of  relics,  to  keep  registers  of  the  names  of  all 
men  in  hospitals,  with  date  of  entry,  disease  or  injury,  and, 
in  case  of  death,  the  date  and  cause,  and  other  informa 
tion  that  might  be  of  interest  to  the  friends.  The  amount  of 
good  done  by  the  State  Military  Agency  and  the  State  Sani 
tary  Commission  is  incalculable.  They  found  out  Indiana 


HIS  CARE  FOR  THE  SOLDIERS.  39 

soldiers  in  every  field  and  in  every  prison.  Wherever  a 
Hoosier  boy  was  heard  of  in  want  or  suffering,  these  humane 
organizations  managed  to  reach  him.  They  were  on  every 
battle-field,  and  the  echoes  of  the  cannon  had  hardly  died 
away  before  Indiana's  agents  were  there  looking  for  Indiana 
soldiers.  Through  the  Sanitary  Commission  enormous  quan 
tities  of  fruit  and  vegetables  were  distributed  among  Indiana 
regiments.  Nor  did  they  confine  their  attentions  exclusively 
to  Indiana  soldiers,  though  these  were  given  the  preference. 
Their  instructions  were  to  assist  and  relieve  the  soldiers  of 
other  States,  whenever  it  could  be  done  consistently  with 
their  first  duty  to  those  of  Indiana,  and  many  a  boy  in  blue 
from  other  States  has  had  occasion  to  bless  Governor  Morton, 
for  attentions  received  from  his  Sanitary  or  Military  Agents. 
Amid  all  his  other  cares  Governor  Morton  found  time  to  give 
considerable  personal  attention  and  supervision  to  these  noble 
charities.  By  tongue  and  pen  he  cheered  and  inspired  the 
people,  while  the  vigor  of  his  administration  in  this  regard,  as 
in  others,  made  itself  felt  through  the  whole  body  politic. 
Local  societies  and  organizations  were  formed,  and  a  regular 
system  of  competitive  patriotism  inaugurated.  In  one  of  his 
proclamations  on  this  subject  Governor  Morton  said  : 

"An  effective  working  committee  in  each  ward  and  township  should  • 
"  be  at  once  selected,  with  such  assistants  and  sub-committees  as  may  be 
"  necessary,  who  can  easily  ascertain  the  number  of  families  within  their 
"limits  requiring  aid,  and  estimate  the  quantity,  kind  and  cost  of  all  sup- 
"  plies  needed  during  the  winter.  Contributions  can  be  taken  up  accord- 
"  ingly.  In  this  work  the  township  trustees,  and  the  officers  of  the  various 
"  churches,  will  doubtless  lend  a  willing  hand.  Especially  do  I  desire  that 
"  ministers  of  the  gospel  should  present  this  subject  to  their  respective  con- 
"  gregations,  and  co-operate,  as  far  as  possible,  in  carrying  out  the  general 
"  plan  of  relief." 

In  another  proclamation,  calling  for  additional  volunteers, 
he  said  : 

"  Upon  those  who  remain  at  home,  I  would  urge  the  solemn  duty  of  mak- 
"  ing  provisions  for  the  families  of  those  who  have  or  may  hereafter 
"  enter  the  army.  The  soldier  in  the  field  should  have  the  sweet  assurance 
"  that  his  wife  and  childen,  and  all  who  are  dependent  upon  his  labor  for 
"  a  living,  will  be  provided  with  sufficient  food  and  clothing.  Such  an 
"  assurance  would  nerve  his  arm  in  the  hour  of  battle  and  enable  him  to 
"  bear  with  cheerfulness  the  hardships  and  privation  of  a  soldier's  life. 

jK&  Of  THE        3^ 

ftfiriVBESITY 


40  OLIVER  P.  MORTON. 

"  It  would  be  a  lasting  disgrace  to  our  people  if  the  family  of  any  soldier 
"  should  want  for  bread  or  raiment  while  our  country  is  full  to  overflowing 
"  with  all  the  necessaries  of  life." 

By  such  appeals  and  by  continually  suggesting  some 
new  plan  of  organized  effort  he  kept  the  patriotism  of  the 
people  in  constant  activity,  and  secured  really  marvelous 
results.  Men,  women,  and  children  seemed  to  vie  with  each 
other  in  their  efforts  ;  loyal  ministers  of  the  gospel  lent  their 
powerful  aid  to  the  movement  and  the  whole  machinery  of 
society  was  placed  at  the  disposal  of  the  Governor  to  further 
his  patriotic  plans.  Indiana's  noble  action  in  this  regard  won 
for  the  State  almost  as  much  reputation  as  the  valor  of  her 
soldiers,  and  was  the  theme  of  general  comment.  The  regu 
lar  correspondent  of  the  New  York  Tribune,  writing  to  that 
paper  from  Fredericksburg,  under  date  of  December  18,  1862, 
immediately  after  the  battle,  said : 

"  The  peculiar  and  constant  attention  to  the  troops  his  State  has  sent  out 
"  so  promptly,  is  the  prominent  feature  of  Governor  Morton's  most  admir- 
"  able  administration.  In  all  our  armies,  from  Kansas  to  the  Potomac, 
"  wherever  I  have  met  Indiana  troops,  I  have  encountered  some  officer  of 
"  Governor  Morton,  going  about  among  them,inquiring  especially  as  to  their 
"  needs,  both  in  camp  and  hospital,  and  performing  those  thousand  offices 
"  the  soldier  so  often  requires.  Would  that  the  same  tender  care  could  be 
"  extended  to  every  man  from  whatever  State,  who  is  fighting  the  battles  of 
"  the  Kepublic." 

In  his  annual  message  to  the  Ohio  Legislature,  in  1864, 
Governor  Brough  spoke  in  the  warmest  terms  of  commenda 
tion  of  the  Indiana  State  Agencies  and  urged  the  adoption 
of  the  same  system  in  Ohio.  The  people  of  Indiana  were 
especially  proud  of  the  Governor's  labors  in  this  regard.  The 
total  amount  contributed  to,  and  distributed  by,  the  Sanitary 
Commission,  from  its  organization  to  its  close,  was  §606,570. 
These  were  the  voluntary  offerings  of  the  people.  In  addi 
tion  to  this,  the  princely  sum  of  §4,566,898  was  contributed 
by  counties,  townships,  cities  and  towns  for  the  relief  of  sol 
diers'  families  and  soldiers  discharged  by  reason  of  wounds 
and  disease.  In  this  great  movement  Governor  Morton's 
inspiring  influence  was  constantly  felt  and  his  patriotic 
appeals  kept  the  people  stirred  up  to  this  work  as  they  did  to 
that  of  volunteering. 


OBTAINS  ADDITIONAL  ARMY  SURGEONS.  41 

In  addition  to  the  stated  efforts  of  the  organizations  above 
named  Governor  Morton  sent  special  relief  expeditions  after 
every  battle  in  which  Indiana  soldiers  were  engaged.  During 
the  year  1863  seven  such  missions  were  performed,  a  loaded 
steamer  being  sent  in  each  case.  The  first  took  540  packages 
of  stores,  twenty-five  nurses,  and  "twenty-one  surgeons ;  the 
second  took  1,000  packages  of  stores  and  several  nurses  and 
surgeons ;  the  third,  500  packages,  with  nurses  and  surgeons, 
etc.  In  each  case  these  steamers  brought  back  sick  and 
wounded  soldiers  from  the  South-west. 

OBTAINS  ADDITIONAL  ARMY  SURGEONS. 

On  the  21st  of  April,  1862,  just  before  the  battle  of  Corinth, 
Governor  Morton  telegraphed  the  Secretary  of  War  as  follows  : 

"  That  a  great  battle  is  impending  at  Corinth,  is  evident.  Before  addi- 
1  tional  surgical  aid  can  reach  the  field  from  any  quarter,  five  or  six  days 
'  will  elapse.  Meanwhile  the  wounded  must  suffer  immensely.  So  it  was 
'  at  Donelson  and  Pittsburg.  Indiana  has  at  least  twenty -four  regiments 
'  before  the  enemy.  I  propose  to  send  at  once  to  each  of  them  two  addi- 
'  tional  surgeons,  and  respectfully  request  authority  from  you  to  do  so.  I 
'  regard  this  as  an  absolute  necessity." 

Heretofore  each  regiment  had  been  allowed  only  one  sur 
geon  and  one  assistant.  Experience  had  shown  this  medical 
force  to  be  entirely  inadequate,  especially  during  or  immedi 
ately  after  a  severe  battle.  This  was  especially  the  case  after 
the  battles  of  Fort  Donelson  and  Shiloh,  and  now  as  another 
one  was  impending,  Governor  Morton  proposed  to  make  bet 
ter  provision,  at  least  for  the  Indiana  soldiers.  His  appeal  to 
the  Secretary  of  War  was  granted,  the  necessary  authority 
given,  and  the  requisite  number  of  surgeons  immediately 
selected  and  dispatched  to  the  field,  with  instructions  to 
remain  as  long  as  their  services  were  required.  This  action 
gave  so  much  satisfaction  that  on  the  2d  of  July,  1862,  Con 
gress  passed  an  act  providing  that  instead  of  one  assistant  sur 
geon,  as  provided  by  a  former  law,  each  regiment  of  volun 
teers  in  the  service  of  the  United  States  should  have  two 
assistant  surgeons.  Thus  Governor  Morton's  thoughtful  fore 
sight  and  care  of  Indiana  troops  resulted  in  this  important 
change  for  the  benefit  of  the  whole  army. 


42  OLIVER  P.  MORTON. 


HIS    CIVIL    ADMINISTRATION. 

The  foregoing  pages  furnish  abundant  evidence  of  Governor 
Morton's  remarkable  executive  ability,  but  the  record  would 
be  very  incomplete  without  a  reference  to  his  civil  adminis 
tration  during  the  period  of  the  war.  In  most  of  the  North 
ern  States  this  was  a  mere  matter  of  ordinary  routine,  but  in 
Indiana  it  was  attended  by  complications  of  the  gravest  char 
acter,  and  difficulties  which  to  most  men  would  have  seemed 
insuperable.  The  war  record  of  Indiana  is  a  monument  more 
enduring  than  brass  to  the  loyalty  and  patriotism  of  her  peo 
ple  who  stood  by  the  Government ;  but  there  was  another 
class  whose  memory  equally  merits  preservation  as  having 
done  all  in  their  power  to  embarrass  and  cripple  the  efforts  of 
Governor  Morton  to  uphold  the  authority  of  the  Nation.  If 
the  noble  sacrifices  of  the  former  are  worthy  to  be  honored  as 
long  as  the  sentiments  of  loyalty  and  patriotism  survive  in 
the  breasts  of  men,  the  infamous  conduct  of  the  latter  deserves 
to  be  held  up  for  execration  to  the  last  syllable  of  recorded 
time.  There  were  disloyal  men  and  Democratic  rebel  sympa 
thizers  in  nearly  all  the  Northern  States,  but  nowhere  were 
they  so  numerous,  malignant,  active  and  well  organized  as  in 
Indiana.  For  a  little  while  after  the  firing  on  Fort  Sumter 
the  voices  of  these  domestic  traitors  were  hushed  in  the  great 
roar  of  public  patriotism,  but  they  soon  recovered  confidence, 
and  entered  on  a  course  of  political  intrigue  and  revolutionary 
plotting,  which  was  kept  up  during  the  whole  war.  In  pro 
portion  as  Governor  Morton  showed  himself  energetic  and 
vigorous  in  his  war  policy,  these  men  hated  and  maligned  him, 
and  sought  to  defeat  his  plans.  They  exerted  themselves  to 
weaken  our  armies  by  encouraging  desertion,  by  discouraging 
or  forcibly  resisting  recruiting,  and  by  crippling  the  efforts  of 
the  State  authorities  to  send  reinforcements  into  the  field. 
They  held  meetings  and  conventions,  and  passed  resolutions 
denouncing  the  war.  They  labored  to  produce  discontent  and 
even  disloyalty  among  the  soldiers  by  sending  them  papers 
and  letters  condemning  the  war,  urging  desertion  and  promis 
ing  protection  to  deserters.  In  nearly  every  county  of  the 


A  DISLOYAL  LEGISLATURE.  43 

State  they  formed  an  organization  for  resisting  the  draft,  pro 
tecting  deserters  and  obstructing  enlistments.  Finally,  they 
organized  a  secret  treasonable  society  known  as  the  "  Sons  of 
Liberty,"  for  the  express  purpose  of  aiding  the  rebellion  and, 
if  possible,  transferring  the  war  to  Indiana  soil.  During  the 
winter  of  1861-62,  and  the  summer  of  1863,  the  disloyal  sen 
timent  was  very  active.  County  and  local  meetings  were  held 
in  many  parts  of  the  State,  which  declared  the  war  "cruel 
and  unnecessary,"  denounced  President  Lincoln  as  a  "  tyrant 
and  usurper,"  Union  soldiers  as  "  Lincoln  hirelings,"  etc. 

In  the  fall  of  1862,  the  Democrats  carried  the  State,  elect 
ing  a  Democratic  Legislature.  It  was  a  thoroughly  disloyal 
Legislature,  the  Democrats  having  a  majority  of  six  in  the 
Senate  and  twenty-four  in  the  House.  The  first  thing  they 
did  after  assembling  was  to  decline  to  receive  Governor  Mor 
ton's  message,  and  to  pass  a  joint  resolution  tendering  thanks 
to  Governor  Seymour,  of  New  York,  for  "the  exalted  and 
patriotic  sentiments  contained  in  his  recent  message."  The 
message  of  Governor  Morton  was  full  of  important  matter, 
and  was  dignified  and  patriotic  in  tone ;  but  these  Indiana 
copperheads  rejected  it,  and  indorsed  instead  the  congenial 
utterances  of  the  Democratic  Governor  of  New  York.  This 
was  the  key-note  of  the  whole  action  of  the  Legislature.  They 
adopted  resolutions  denouncing  "arbitrary  arrests,"  and 
declared  that  Indiana  would  not  "  voluntarily  contribute 
another  man  or  another  dollar  to  be  used  for  such  wicked, 
inhuman  and  unholy  purposes  "  as  the  prosecution  of  the  war. 
They  instructed  the  Senators  and  requested  the  Representa 
tives  in  Congress  from  Indiana  to  take  measures  to  suspend 
hostilities,  and  declared  in  favor  of  receiving  the  Southern 
States  back  into  the  Union  "  on  a  liberal  compromise,  grant 
ing  them  ungrudgingly  all  their  constitutional  rights  and 
privileges,  with  such  additional  safeguards  as  may  be  neces 
sary  to  protect  them  in  those  rights."  They  refused  to  enter 
tain  a  proposition  to  allow  soldiers  in  the  field  to  vote,  and  thus 
practically  disfranchised  the  men  at  the  front.  They  denounced 
the  arming  of  the  negroes,  and  resolved  that  "  the  people  of 
the  State  had  over  and  over  again  decided  against  any  interfer 
ence  with  slavery."  These  are  but  a  few  out  of  many  evidences 


44  OLIVER  P.  MORTON. 

of  the  rank  disloyalty  of  this  body.  Finally,  after  having 
done  what  it  could  to  disgrace  the  State  and  cripple  the  admin 
istration  of  Governor  Morton,  the  Legislature  adjourned  with 
out  passing  a  single  one  of  the  appropriation  bills  necessary 
to  carry  on  the  State  government.  This  was 

A    TERRIBLE   CRISIS. 

The  country  in  the  midst  of  civil  war,  the  Government 
making  steady  demands  on  the  States  for  aid,  another  call  for 
troops  imminent,  Southern  emissaries  and  rebel  sympathizers 
doing  all  in  their  power  to  foment  disturbances,  and  the  Leg 
islature  adjourned  without  making  any  provision  for  the  civil 
or  military  expenses  of  the  State.  In  this  emergency,  Gover 
nor  Morton  had  three  courses  open  before  him  :  first,  to  allow 
the  State  institutions  to  be  closed,  the  interest  on  the  State's 
bonds  to  go  unpaid,  and  its  credit  to  become  bankrupt ;  second, 
to  call  a  special  session  of  the  same  Legislature  and  endeavor 
to  shame  it  into  a  performance  of  its  duty ;  third,  to  devise 
extraordinary  means  of  raising  money  to  carry  along  the  State 
government  and  preserve  its  credit.  He  chose  the  latter 
course.  He  organized  a  Bureau  of  Finance,  appointed  a 
Financial  Secretary,  and  devised  a  new  system  of  State  gov 
ernment.  He  appealed  to  the  people,  to  private  bankers  and 
to  various  counties  of  the  State  to  furnish  funds  to  carry  on 
the  State  government,  confident  that  the  next  Legislature 
would  be  a  loyal  one  and  justify  his  acts.  The  response  was 
prompt  and  liberal.  Many  counties  made  appropriations 
ranging  from  $2,000  to  §20,000  each.  Private  citizens 
advanced  a  considerable  sum,  and  one  railroad  company  pat 
riotically  loaned  $15,000.  Governor  Morton  went  to  Wash 
ington,  and  on  his  representation  of  the  case,  the  General 
Government  advanced  him,  as  a  disbursing  officer,  $250,000 
out  of  a  special  appropriation  for  military  expenses.  Thus, 
through  his  personal  energy  and  efforts,  funds  were  raised  to 
carry  on  the  State  government,  keep  all  the  State  institutions 
open,  and  defray  civil  and  military  expenses.  The  State  offi 
cers  were  hostile  to  his  administration,  and  he  carried  out  hir> 
plans  entirely  independent  of  them.  The  Bureau  of  Finance 


CIVIL  ADMINISTRATION.  45 

established  by  him  continued  from  April,  1863,  to  January, 
1865.  The  total  amount  of  cash  raised  and  received  by  Gov 
ernor  Morton,  during  this  period,  was  $1,026,321.31.  Of 
this  amount,  he  disbursed,  through  his  Financial  Secretary, 
for  civil  purposes  $199,644.93,  and  for  military  purposes 
$702,420.15,  making  a  total  of  ip902,065.08.  Of  the  balance 
left  in  his  hands  ($124,256.23)  $115,487.18,  being  part  of  the 
military  fund,  was  paid  back  to  the  General  Government, 
and  $8,768.95  was  paid  into  the  State  treasury.  Every  dollar 
disbursed  during  the  one  year  and  nine  months  of  his  finan 
cial  administration  was  paid  on  his  check,  proper  and  suffi 
cient  vouchers  being  taken  in  all  cases.  Not  a  dollar  was 
lost  or  misappropriated.  There  is  no  similar  case  on  record 
of  the  Governor  of  a  State  raising  funds  by  his  personal 
efforts  to  support  the  State  Government,  and  carrying  it  along 
for  nearly  two  years  without  any  appropriations  by  the  Legis 
lature  and  without  any  assistance  from  the  State  officers. 

It  has  already  been  stated  that  these  latter  were  hostile  to 
Governor  Morton's  administration .  They  were  more  than  this. 
As  Democrats  they  desired  to  see  him  utterly  fail  in  his  efforts 
to  sustain  the  credit  of  the  State  and  keep  it  in  the  front 
rank  of  loyal  commonwealths.  When  the  interest  on  the 
State  debt  fell  due,  on  the  1st  of  July,  1863,  they  failed  and 
refused  to  make  any  provision  for  it,  hoping,  thereby,  to  crip 
ple  and  defeat  the  plans  of  Governor  Morton.  But  he  was 
equal  to  this  emergency  also.  Discovering  their  purpose,  he 
hastened  to  New  York,  and  effected  an  arrangement  with 
a  loyal  and  responsible  banking  house  to  advance  the 
sum  necessary  to  pay  the  interest  falling  due  on  the  date 
above  named.  But  here  he  met  another  difficulty.  The 
interest  could  not  be  paid  without  a  list  of  the  stock-holders. 
The  only  complete  list  was  in  the  books  of  the  State  Agent  at 
NewT  York — a  disloyal  Democrat — and  he  refused  to  furnish 
it  to  the  bankers,  or  to  permit  them  to  have  access  to  his 
books.  It  was  then  proposed  to  him  that  he  should  pay  the 
interest  in  the  usual  way,  on  his  own  books,  the  bankers  to 
honor  his  checks  issued  therefor  and  to  relieve  him  from  any 
personal  liability  for  moneys  so  paid.  This  offer  was  like 
wise  refused.  Determined  not  to  be  defeated,  Governor  Mor- 


46  OLIVER  P.  MORTON. 

% 

ton  set  about  obtaining  a  list  of  the  stockholders  from  outside 
sources,  and  after  much  labor  and  delay,  actually  succeeded  in 
doing  so.  The  interest  was  finally  paid,  and  the  State's  credit 
saved.  An  arrangement  was  made  with  the  same  house  to 
pay  the  interest  falling  due  on  the  1st  of  January  and  1st  of 
July,  1864,  and  1st  of  January,  1865,  and  a  public  notice  to 
this  effect  quieted  the  fears  of  foreign  creditors,  and  placed 
the  credit  of  the  State  higher  than  it  ever  stood  before. 

TREASONABLE  PRACTICES  AND  SECRET  SOCIETIES. 

The  foregoing  pages  sufficiently  indicate  the  malignant  spirit 
of  the  Indiana  Democracy  daring  the  war,  but  they  only 
faintly  suggest  the  enormous  difficulties  which  Governor  Mor 
ton  had  to  encounter  from  this  quarter.  It  is  no  exaggeration 
to  say  that  he  fought  two  rebellions — one  in  the  South  and  one 
in  Indiana.  Reference  has  already  been  made  to  some  of  the 
treasonable  practices  by  which  the  sympathizers  with  rebellion 
sought  to  embarrass  his  administration,  but  all  of  these,  wicked 
and  nefarious  they  were,  sink  into  insignificance  when  com 
pared  with  the  step  in  which  they  finally  culminated.  This 
was  nothing  less  than  the  organization  of  a  secret  treasonable 
society,  called  "  Knights  of  the  Golden  Circle,"  the  undoubted 
purpose  of  which  was  to  plunge  the  State  into  revolution  and 
precipitate  a  civil  war  in  its  borders.  Space  would  fail  to 
relate  the  numerous  outrages  and  open  acts  of  treason  perpe 
trated  by  this  organization  before  it  was  discovered.  In  some 
counties  Union  men  had  been  driven  from  their  homes,  their 
houses  and  barns  had  been  burned,  draft  officers  had  been 
killed,  squads  of  soldiers  sent  to  arrest  deserters  had  been  fired 
upon,  and  companies  of  rebel  sympathizers  drilled  in  open 
clay,  with  the  avowed  purpose  of  resisting  the  Government 
authorities.  Governor  Morton  was  the  special  object  of  their 
hatred.  His  life  was  repeatedly  threatened.  Once  he  was 
fired  at  as  he  was  leaving  the  State  House  at  night,  the  bullet 
grazing  his  head.  These  outrages  became  so  frequent,  and  the 
talk  of  organized  resistance  to  the  draft  so  alarming,  that  in 
June,  1863,  the  Governor  issued  a  proclamation,  reciting  the 


TREASON  AT  HOME.  47 

act  of  Congress  to  define  and  punish  treasonable  conspiracies, 
and  ordering  the  agitators  to  submit  to  the  laws. 

Finally,  in  1864,  through  the  efforts  of  Governor  Morton, 
and  an  officer  whom  he  had  employed  to  assist  him,  a  full 
oxposure  was  made  of  the  secret  organization  known  as  the 
41  Knights  of  the  Golden  Circle,"  or  "  Sons  of  Liberty."  The 
exposure  was   complete — embracing  the   signs,   grips,   pass 
words,  oaths,  ceremonies,  principles  and  purposes  of  the  order. 
The  membership  in  the  State  at  that  time  was  about  50,000. 
Its  officers  had  §200,000  in  their  hands  for  the  purpose  of 
buying  arms.     The  leaders  were  in  close  and  constant  com 
munication  with  the  rebels.     An  outbreak  had  been  planned 
to  take  place  in  August,  1864.     The  arsenal  at  Indianapolis 
was  to  be  siezed,  railroad  and  telegraph  lines  to  be  cut,  and 
the  rebel  prisoners  confined  here  to  be  liberated.     Governor 
Morton  was  to  be  captured,  and,  if  necessary,  put  out  of  the 
way.     The  combined  forces  of  released  prisoners  and  Sons  of 
Liberty  were  to  join  the  rebel  forces,  who  were  to  advance  to 
meet  them,  in  Kentucky.     "With  such  information  in  his  pos 
session,  Governor  Morton  was  prepared  to  deal  this  treasonable 
organization  a  crushing  blow.  He  caused  the  arrest  of  the  Grand 
Commander  of  the  order  in  this  State,  the  Deputy  Grand  Com- 
mande^  and  four  District  Commanders — all  prominent  Demo 
crats.  These  arrests  created  great  consternation  in  Democratic 
oircles,  and  completely  overthrew  the  plans  of  the  order.  It  was 
determined  to  make  an  example  of  the  leaders  arrested.  Accord 
ingly,  a  military  commission  was  organized,  and  they  were  put 
upon  their  trial  for  conspiracy  and  treason.     Pending  the  trial 
the  Grand  Commander  made  his  escape  from  the  United  States 
Court  building  and  fled  to  Canada.     The  evidence  against  the 
others  was  overwhelming.     One  of  them  turned  State's  evi 
dence,  and  disclosed  all  the  secrets  of  the  order.     The  court 
finally  found  all  four  of  them  guilty  as  charged,  and  sentenced 
three  of  them  to  death  and  one  to  imprisonment.     The  death 
sentence  was  approved,  the  day  fixed  for  their  execution,  and 
preparations  for  it  commenced,  when,  upon  the  earnest  repre 
sentations  of  Governor  Morton  and   other  prominent   loyal 
men,  the  President  commuted  their  sentence  to  confinement 


48  OLIVER  P.  MORTON. 

in  the  Ohio  penitentiary.     Subsequently,  after  the  close  of 
the  war,  they  were  all  pardoned. 

It  was  amid  such  difficulties  and  dangers  as  these  that  Gov 
ernor  Morton  had  to  move.  In  spite  of  them  all,  however, 
he  held  the  State  to  its  duty,  and,  backed  by  the  loyal  citizens, 
gave  it  a  place  second  to  none  in  effective  support  of  the 
National  Government. 

HIS   RE-ELECTION   AS   GOVERNOR. 

It  is  hardly  necessary  to  say  that  Governor  Morton's  man 
agement  of  State  affairs  under  the  manifold  difficulties  above 
related  was  enthusiastically  approved  by  the  Republicans  of 
Indiana.  By  his  vigorous  and  brilliant  administration  he 
had  given  the  State  more  prominence  than  it  had  ever  enjoyed 
before,  elevated  its  credit  in  financial  circles,  and  won  for  it 
golden  opinions  from  loyal  people  everywhere.  During  the 
four  years  from  1860  to  1864  he  had  come  to  be  regarded  as 
one  of  the  foremost  men  of  the  nation.  His  great  services  to 
the  Union  cause  were  universally  recognized,  and  the  Repub 
licans  in  Indiana,  at  least,  felt  that  he  had  done  what  no  other 
man  living  could  have  done.  Therefore,  when  the  Republi 
can  Convention  met  in  1864  he  was  unanimously  nominated 
for  re-election.  This  was  an  important  epoch  in  his  public 
career,  and  much  depended  on  the  result  of  the  election.  Of 
course  the  main  question  was  whether  Indiana  would  remain 
true  to  the  Republican  party  and  the  Union,  but  scarcely  sec 
ondary  to  this  was  the  question  whether  the  Legislature  would 
indorse  Governor  Morton's  administration  and  approve  the 
various  measures  he  had  adopted  to  meet  emergencies  forced 
upon  him  by  the  disloyal  Democracy.  All  his  acts  had  been 
done  in  the  confident  hope  that  a  Legislature  would  be  elected 
in  1864  which  would  approve  them,  and  now  the  time  had 
come  for  an  appeal  to  the  people.  His  opponent  for  the  Gov 
ernorship  was  Hon.  Joseph  E.  McDonald,  now  a  Senator 
from  this  State.  Friends  of  both  parties  arranged  for  a  joint 
Oanvass  of  the  State,  and  the  opening  debate  was  appointed 
to  take  place  at  Laporte.  The  character  of  the  occasion  and 
the  importance  of  the  issues  involved  drew  an  immense  con- 


RE-ELECTED  GOVERNOR.  49 

course  of  people,  the  crowd  being  estimated  at  not  less  than 
twenty  thousand.  His  competitor  was  ten  years  his  senior,  a 
skillful  debater  and  strong  man.  He  had  been  nominated 
because  it  was  thought  he  could  cope  with  Morton  "  on  the 
stump/7  but  the  result  proved  how  ill  founded  this  expectation 
was.  The  Laporte  debate  settled  beyond  all  doubt  the  com 
parative  ability  of  the  two  men,  and  in  the  minds  of  all  pres 
ent  virtually  fixed  the  result  of  the  election.  Governor  Mor 
ton  had  the  opening.  His  speech  was  a  powerful  arraignment 
of  the  Democratic  party  and  defense  of  his  own  administra 
tion.  The  utter  rottenness  and  treason  of  the  Democracy 
were  exposed  and  every  measure  and  act  of  his  own  vindi 
cated.  It  was  a  great  and  convincing  speech.  Mr.  Joseph 
Medill,  of  the  Chicago  Tribune,  who  was  present,  said  that 
one  speech,  scattered  broadcast  throughout  the  State,  would 
elect  Morton  by  10,000  majority ;  and  the  correspondent  of  the 
New  York  Tribune  wrote :  "  Nothing  like  it  has  been  heard 
"  in  this  country  since  Webster's  reply  to  Hayne."  The  speech 
was  too  much  for  McDonald,  and  its  effect  upon  the  audience 
disheartened  him.  His  reply  was  virtually  a  failure,  and  the 
debate  resulted  in  a  great  triumph  for  Governor  Morton.  His 
friends  were  prouder  of  him  than  ever,  and  the  Democrats  were 
correspondingly  depressed.  At  every  subsequent  appointment 
the  Laporte  experience  was  virtually  repeated.  As  Morton 
warmed  to  his  work  he  rose  to  even  higher  strains  of  argu 
ment,  while  McDonald  labored  more  and  more  as  he  noted 
everywhere  that  his  antagonist  was  carrying  the  people  with 
him.  Governor  Morton's  speeches  in  this  campaign  were 
characterized  by  the  qualities  for  which  he  was  now  so  widely 
known — power  of  logic,  force  of  statement,  and  eloquent 
presentation  of  Republican  principles.  He  was  re-elected  by 
20,883  majority,  and  the  Eepublicans  gained  a  majority  in 
the  Legislature.  It  was  the  grandest  popular  triumph  ever 
achieved  in  the  State. 

His  message  to  the  Legislature  set  forth  in  detail  all  his 
public  acts  of  the  last  two  years,  and  was  a  complete  exposi 
tion  of  the  civil,  military  and  financial  affairs  of  the  State. 
In  conclusion  he  said  : 


50  OLIVER  P.  MORTON. 

"I  respectfully  request  that  a  joint  committee  of  the  two  Houses  be 
"speedily  appointed  to  investigate  the  civil  and  military  expenditures  I 
"  have  made  since  the  adjournment  of  the  last  Legislature,  and  to  examine 
"  vouchers  for  the  same  on  file  in  my  department,  and  that  the  Legislature 
"  will  make  prompt  provision  for  the  repayment  of  the  money  I  have  bor- 
"  rowed  for  public  purposes.  It  was  advanced  from  patriotic  motives,  with 
"  a  full  reliance  upon  the  good  faith  of  the  State  for  its  reimbursement,  and 
"  without  it  the  machinery  of  the  State  government  could  not  have  been 
"  kept  in  motion." 

Pursuant  to  this  request,  the  Legislature  appointed  a  joint 
committee  to  examine  the  vouchers  for  receipts  and  payments 
of  money  by  the  Governor.  After  a  thorough  examination, 
the  committee  found  (as  in  his  account  stated)  that  the 
Governor  had  received  $1,036.,321.31,  and  disbursed  $902,- 
065.08,  leaving  a  balance  in  his  hands  of  §124,265.23,  for 
•which  he  held  a  certificate  of  deposit  in  bank.  The  report 
of  the  committee  was  a  complete  vindication  of  the  Gover 
nor's  financial  administration,  and  is  a  lasting  tribute  to  his 
strict  and  unimpeachable  integrity.  During  a  time  of  civil 
war  and  great  excitement,  he  raised  by  his  personal  efforts, 
and  disbursed  on  his  personal  check,  all  the  money  used  by 
the  State  government  during  a  period  of  nearly  two  years, 
without  the  loss  or  misappropriation  of  a  dollar.  No  public 
man  in  the  United  States  can  show  a  better  record  than  this. 
No  other  can  show  a  record  to  compare  with  it,  for  there  is 
none  who  was  ever  placed  in  similar  circumstances,  or  who 
ever  achieved  such  great  results  under  such  enormous  difficul 
ties. 

AFTER  THE  WAR. 

Governor  Morton  entered  his  second  term  with  unabated 
zeal  and  ardor.  He  was  now  in  his  forty-second  year  and  in 
the  prime  of  physical  and  mental  strength.  The  vast  respon 
sibilities  and  labors  of  the  last  five  years  had  developed  his 
character  to  its  fullest  proportions.  Experience  had  shown 
him  to  be  equal  to  every  emergency,  and  success  had  given 
him  a  confidence  which  was  almost  irresistible  in  itself.  His 
energy,  patriotism,  executive  ability  and  fertility  of  resources 
were  a  theme  of  general  comment.  His  services  to  the  State 
and  Nation  were  known  and  honored  everywhere. 


CLOSE  OF  THE  WAE.  51 

In  April,  1865,  came  the  end  of  the  war,  and  the  assassin 
ation  of  President  Lincoln.  This  last  event,  which  so  shocked 
the  Nation  and  the  world,  was  a  stunning  blow  to  Governor 
Morton.  The  relations  between  the  martyred  President  and 
himself  had  been  exceedingly  friendly — even  intimate — for 
some  years  past.  They  had  stood  shoulder  to  shoulder  in 
support  of  the  same  great  cause,  laboring  with  equal  zeal  to  a 
common  end.  They  had  advised  and  counseled  together  dur 
ing  every  phase  of  the  conflict,  each  at  times  borrowing  hope 
and  inspiration  from  the  other.  Amid  a  Nation  of  mourners 
no  man  felt  the  death  of  Mr.  Lincoln  more  than  Governor 
Morton,  his  admirer,  co-laborer,  and  trusted  friend.  On  the 
receipt  of  the  sad  intelligence,  he  issued  the  following  procla 
mation  : 

"  STATE  OP  INDIANA,  EXECUTIVE  DEPARTMENT,  \ 
"  INDIANAPOLIS,  April  15,  1865.  / 

11  To  the  Citizens  of  Indianapolis: 

"  The  mournful  intelligence  has  been  received  that  the  President,  Abra- 
"  ham  Lincoln,  died  this  morning  from  a  wound  inflicted  by  the  hand  of  an 
"  assassin,  last  night.  A  great  and  good  man  has  fallen,  and  the  country 
"  has  lost  its  beloved  and  patriotic  Chief  Magistrate  in  the  hour  of  her 
"  greatest  need. 

"  I,  therefore,  request  the  citizens  of  Indianapolis,  in  testimony  of  their 
"  profound  sorrow,  to  close  their  places  of  business,  and  assemble  in  the 
"  State  House  Square  at  twelve  o'clock  M.  to-day,  to  give  expression  to  their 
"  sentiments  over  this  great  National  calamity. 

"  O.  P.  MORTON, 

"  Governor  of  Indiana. 

Immediately  after  the  meeting  thus  called,  the  Governor 
hastened  to  Washington  to  join  in  paying  the  last  sad  honors 
to  his  murdered  friend.  He,  with  others,  accompanied  the 
President's  remains  to  their  final  resting-place ;  and,  at  his 
request,  it  was  decided  to  have  them  rest  for  a  day  at  Indian 
apolis.  The  ceremonies  here  were  of  a  most  solemn  and  im 
pressive  character. 

Shortly  after  this  the  returning  troops  of  Indiana  began  to 
arrive,  and  the  grateful  duty  of  properly  receiving  the  victor 
ious  veterans  followed  quickly  on  the  mournful  task  of  bury 
ing  their  murdered  chief.  The  close  of  the  war  opened  up  a 
new  field  of  executive  labor,  which,  if  less  exciting  than  that 
of  the  last  few  years,  was  no  less  perplexing  and  severe. 


52  OLIVER  P.  MORTON. 

In  the  fall  of  1865,  in  consequence  of  his  great  labors  and 
the  continued  strain  upon  his  energies,  Governor  Morton's 
health  became  impaired  to  such  a  degree  as  to  require  a  ces 
sation  from  work.  His  physicians  prescribed  rest  and  travel, 
and  in  November,  1865,  he  went  to  Europe.  He  remained 
abroad  about  five  months,  when  he  returned  and  resumed  his 
duties  as  Governor.  His  safe  return  was  the  more  gratifying 
to  his  friends  in  Indiana,  since  a  State  election  was  approach 
ing  and  he  was  looked  to  as  usual  to  sound 

THE   KEY    NOTE. 

State  officers,  members  of  Congress  and  of  the  State  Legis 
lature  were  to  be  elected  in  the  fall.  The  Legislature  then 
chosen  would  have  to  elect  a  United  States  Senator,  and  it 
was  taken  by  common  consent  among  Republicans  that  if 
they  carried  the  State  Governor  Morton  was  to  be  the  man. 
Shortly  after  his  return  from  Europe  the  Republicans  called 
a  public  meeting,  the  first  of  the  campaign,  on  the  20th  of 
June,  1866.  The  largest  hall  in  Indianapolis  was  densely 
crowded  with  those  anxious  to  see  and  hear  him,  and  a  large 
number  of  prominent  men  occupied  seats  on  the  platform. 
His  speech  on  this  occasion  was  one  of  the  most  powerful  and 
scathing  he  ever  delivered.  The  surroundings  were  sugges 
tive  of  stirring  memories.  He  had  often  spoken  from  the 
same  platform  during  the  war,  appealing  to  the  people,  call 
ing  for  volunteers,  and  exhorting  the  citizens  of  the  State  to 
stand  by  and  support  the  Government.  Now  the  war  was 
over,  and  the  question  was  presented,  as  it  is  to-day,  whether 
the  fruits  of  victory  should  be  preserved  or  surrendered.  His 
speech  consisted  of  a  vindication  of  the  course  of  the  Repub 
lican  party  and  an  arraignment  of  the  Democracy.  The  lat 
ter  portion  of  it  was  terribly  severe,  and  is  still  well  remem 
bered  by  those  who  heard  it.  He  dwelt  upon  the  course  of 
the  Democracy  during  the  war,  and  recalled  their  countless 
acts  of  disloyalty.  He  hurled  facts  and  history  at  them  with 
fatal  precision  and  eifect.  Nearly  every  sentence  was  received 
with  cheers  by  the  audience,  and  the  applause  seemed  to 
inspire  the  speaker.  His  invective  fairly  glowed  with  pas- 


ELECTED  UNITED  STATES  SENATOR  53 

sion.  Having  traced  the  dark  and  dishonoring  course  of  the 
Democracy  from  the  firing  on  Fort  Sumter  throughout  the 
war  and  down  to  the  time  of  speaking,  he  concluded  his  fiery 
philippic  by  saying : 

"  In  short,  the  Democratic  party  may  be  described  as  a  common  sewer 
"  and  loathsome  receptacle>  into  which  is  emptied  every  element  of  inhu- 
"  manity  and  barbarism  which  has  desolated  the  age." 

In  this  speech  also  he  made  an  argument  in  favor  of  the 
adoption  of  the  Fourteenth  Amendment  to  the  National  Con 
stitution,  which  attracted  attention  throughout  the  country. 
No  speech  delivered  since  the  war  had  so  excoriated  the 
Democracy,  or  portrayed  so  powerfully  their  treasonable 
career  and  purposes,  and  it  earned  for  Governor  Morton  their 
deeper  hatred  than  ever.  By  Republicans  it  was  generally 
accepted  as  a  complete  vindication  of  the  principles  and  pol 
icy  of  the  party,  and  nearly  3,000,000  copies  of  it  were  cir 
culated  in  different  States  of  the  Union. 

During  the  campaign  which  followed,  Governor  Morton 
spoke  at  various  points  in  the  State,  and  never  with  greater 
power  or  effect.  The  election  resulted  in  a  sweeping  Repub 
lican  victory.  In  the  Legislature  the  Republicans  had  thirty- 
two  majority  on  joint  ballot.  Shortly  after  the  meeting  of 
the  General  Assembly  in  January,  1867,  Governor  Morton 
was  elected  United  States  Senator,  no  other  Republican  can 
didate  being  even  suggested;  and  he  receiving  every  Repub 
lican  vote. 

HIS  SENATORIAL  CAHEER. 

Great  as  Governor  Morton's  services  to  Republican  princi 
ples  and  the  cause  of  freedom  had  been  heretofore,  they  have 
been  fully  matched  by  those  which  have  marked  his  senatorial 
career.  If  he  had  died  at  the  close  of  the  war  he  would  have 
been  remembered  as  "  Indiana's  War  Governor,"  as  one  of  the 
mainstays  of  the  Government  during  the  rebellion,  and  as  a 
man  of  extraordinary  executive  ability.  To  these  distinctions 
history  will  now  add  that  he  was  also  a  wise  and  sagacious 
legislator,  of  broad  and  comprehensive  views,  true  to  liberty 
as  the  needle  to  the  pole,  firm  and  unyielding  in  his  devotion 


54  OLIVER  P.  MORTON. 

to  the  cause  of  right,  and  immovable  as  a  rock  in  his  support 
of  Republican  principles.  If  it  be  true  that  no  man  did  more 
to  sustain  the  Government  during  the  war,  it  is  equally  true 
that  none  has  done  more  since  the  war  to  secure  its  results  and 
to  establish  the  Government  on  solid,  broad,  and  enduring 
foundations. 

Governor  Morton  took  his  seat  in  the  Senate  of  the  Fortieth 
Congress,  March  4, 1 867.  At  that  time  Hon.  B.  F.  AVade  was 
President  of  the  Senate,  and  the  body  numbered  among  its 
members  many  able  Senators  of  the  war  period,  some  of  whom 
have  since  died,  some  have  passed  out  of  public  life,  and  a  few 
still  remain  in  the  Senate.  Probably  never  before,  certainly 
at  no  time  since,  has  the  Senate  embraced  more  men  of  abil 
ity,  experience  and  character  than  it  did  then.  Senator  Mor 
ton  was  welcomed  to  the  body,  and  received  at  once  into  the 
fullest  confidence  by  leading  Republican  Senators.  His  polit 
ical  record-  and  services  were  familiar  as  household  words, 
while  his  temperate  life  and  spotless  character  made  him  a  fit 
associate  for  the  best  of  the  great  men  who  then  adorned  the 
Senate.  Their  estimate  of  his  abilities  is  shown  by  the  fact 
that  in  the  organization  of  the  standing  committees  he  was 
accorded  throe  important  places — Chairman  of  the  Committee 
on  Manufactures,  and  a  member  of  the  Committees  on  Foreign 
Relations  and  Military  Affairs. 

HIS    FIEST   SPEECH    IN   THE    SENATE. 

The  great  question  before  the  Fortieth  Congress,  and  one 
which  was  occupying  the  attention  of  the  whole  country  at 
that  time,  was  that  of  Reconstruction,  or  the  rehabilitation  of 
the  Southern  States.  The  stubborn  contest  between  President 
Johnson  and  Congress  had  attracted  universal  attention  to  the 
subject,  and  its  intrinsic  importance  made  it  the  theme  of  gen 
eral  comment  and  discussion.  The  great  question  was  how 
far  to  go  in  restoring  the  late  rebels  to  their  political  rights, 
and  what  measures  were  necessary  to  secure  Republican  Gov 
ernment  to  the  Southern  States,  and  political  equality,  together 
with  safety  and  protection,  to  all  classes  of  people.  On  this 
question,  and  all  those  growing  out  of  it,  Senator  Morton  had 


SPEECH  ON  EECONSTR  UCTION.  55 

well  settled  views.  He  believed  most  profoundly  that  treason 
was  a  crime,  and  that  those  who  had  engaged  in  ifc  should  be 
made  to  realize  the  fact.  He  believed  that  men  who  had  but 
just  laid  down  their  arms  after  a  four  years'  struggle  to  destroy 
the  Government  ought  not  to  be  trusted  immediately  with  the 
absolute  control  of  the  Southern  States  without  the  exaction 
of  guarantees  in  the  interests  of  liberty.  He  desired  to  accord 
them  all  civil  and  political  rights  as  soon  as  it  was  safe  to  do 
so,  but  he  wished  also  to  have  the  future  peace  and  security 
of  the  Union  "so  imbedded  in  the  imperishable  bulwarks  of 
the  constitution  that  the  waves  of  secession  might  dash  against 
it  in  vain."  While  he  regarded  it  as  important  that  the  work 
of  reconstruction  should  not  be  unnecessarily  delayed,  he  con 
sidered  it  still  more  important  that  it  should  proceed  upon 
sound  principles  which  would  furnish  guarantees  for  the  future 
integrity  and  peace  of  the  republic. 

On  the  24th  of  January,  1868,  Senator  Morton  delivered 
his  first  speech  in  the  Senate.  The  subject  under  debate  was 
the  Reconstruction  question.  He  had  not  intended  to  speak 
at  that  time,  and  had  made  no  deliberate  preparation.  In  the 
course  of  the  debate,  however,  Senator  Doolittle,  of  Wiscon 
sin,  made  a  bitter  attack  on  the  Republican  party  and  the 
Congressional  policy  of  reconstruction.  When  he  concluded, 
Senator  Nye  rose  to  reply,  but  yielded  to  Senator  Morton, 
who  spoke  extemporaneously  and  without  having  made  a  sin 
gle  note.  At  the  beginning  of  his  speech  he  said : 

"The  issue  here  to-day  is  the  same  which  prevails  throughout  the  country 
"  which  will  be  the  issue  of  this  canvass,  and  perhaps  for  years  -to  come. 
"  It  is  between  two  paramount  ideas,  each  struggling  for  the  supremacy.  One 
"  is,  that  the  war  to  suppress  the  rebellion  was  right  and  just  on  our  part ; 
"  that  the  rebels  forfeited  their  civil  and  political  rights,  and  can  only  be 
"  restored  to  them  upon  such  conditions  as  the  nation  may  prescribe  for  its 
"  future  safety  and  prosperity.  The  other  idea  is,  that  the  rebellion  was 
"  not  sinful,  but  was  right ;  that  those  engaged  in  it  forfeited  no  rights,  civil 
"  or  political,  and  have  a  right  to  take  charge  of  their  State  governments, 
"  and  be  restored  to  their  representation  in  Congress,  just  as  if  there  were  no 
"  rebellion  and  nothing  had  occurred.  The  immediate  issue  before  the  Sen- 
"  ate  now  is  between  the  existing  State  governments  established  under  the 
"  policy  of  the  President  of  the  United  States  in  the  rebel  States,  and  the 
"  plan  of  reconstruction  presented  by  Congress." 

He  then  proceeded  to  demonstrate,  first,  that  when  the  war 


66  OLIVER  P.  MORTON. 

closed  the  rebel  States  were  without  State  governments  of  any 
kind,  since  the  State  governments  existing  at  the  beginning 
of  the  war  had  been  overturned  by  the  rebels,  and  those 
erected  by  the  rebels  had  been  overturned  by  our  armies, 
leaving  the  Southern  jStates  without  any  government  what 
ever.  Second,  quoting  that  clause  of  the  Constitution  which 
provides  that  "  the  United  States  shall  guarantee  to  every 
"  State  in  this  Union  a  republican  form  of  government,"  he 
proved  conclusively  that  Congress  alone  had  the  right  to  exer 
cise  that  power,  and  that  it  must  be  done  by  a  Legislative  act. 
Third,  he  then  considered  the  powers  of  Congress  in  the  execu 
tion  of  the  guaranty,  how  it  should  be  executed,  and  what 
means  might  be  employed  for  this  purpose.  This  branch  of 
the  subject  was  exhaustively  treated,  and  the  conclusion 
reached  that  Congress  not  only  had  the  power,  but  was  in  duty 
bound,  to  prescribe  such  a  plan  of  reconstruction  as  would 
insure  justice,  security,  and  equal  rights  to  all  classes  in  the 
South.  This  could  only  be  done  by  giving  the  colored  race 
the  right  of  suffrage.  Of  the  State  governments  organized 
under  President  Johnson's  policy,  he  said : 

"  So  far  from  having  been  organized  by  the  loyal  people,  they  wereorgan- 
"  ized  by  the  disloyal ;  every  office  passed  into  the  hands  of  a  rebel ;  the 
"  Union  men  had  no  part  or  lot  in  those  governments ;  and  so  far  from 
"  answering  the  purpose  for  which  governments  are  intended,  they  failfid  to 
"  extend  protection  to  the  loyal  men,  either  white  or  black." 

Then,  having  shown  the  utter  failure  of  the  attempt  to  recon 
struct  the  Southern  States  on  the  basis  of  the  white  population 
alone,  he  said : 

"  Now,  sir,  what  was  there  left  to  do  ?  Either  we  must  hold  these  people 
"continually  by  military  power,  or  we  must  use  such  machinery  on  such  a 
"  a  new  basis  as  would  enable  loynl  republican  governments  to  be  raised  up; 
"  and  in  the  last  result  I  will  say  Congress  waited  long,  the  Nation  waited 
''  long,  experience  had  to  come  to  the  rescue  of  reason  before  the  thing  was 
"  done — in  the  last  resort,  and,  as  the  last  thing  to  be  done,  Congress  deter- 
"  mined  to  dig  through  all  the  rubbish — dig  through  the  soil  and  the  shift- 
"  ing  sands,  and  go  down  to  the  eternal  rock,  and  there,  upon  the  basis  of 
"  the  everlasting  principle  of  equal  and  exact  justice  to  all  men,  we  have 
"  planted  the  column  of  reconstruction ;  and,  sir,  it  will  arise  slowly,  but 
"  surely,  and  '  the  gates  of  hell  shall  not  prevail  against  it.'  " 

The  meager  outline  here  presented  furnishes  but  a  faint  con 
ception  of  the  comprehensive  grasp  and  convincing  power  of 


SPEECH  ON  EECONSTR  UCTION.  57 

this  speech.  It  was  universally  conceded  to  be  a  masterly 
presentation  of  the  subject — accurate  in  statement,  unanswer 
able  in  logic,  forcible  and  dignified  in  expression.  It  placed 
Senator  Morton  at  once  among  the  leaders  of  the  Senate,  and 
showed  him  to  be  the  peer  in  -debate  of  the  oldest  and  ablest 
member.  Mr.  Barnes,  the  Congressional  historian,  says,  "  It 
"  was  one  of  the  most  memorable  and  effective  speeches  ever 
"  delivered  in  the  United  States  Senate."  Col.  John  W.  For 
ney,  in  a  letter  to  the  Philadelphia  Press,  wrote  :  "  The  scene 
"  this  afternoon  reminded  me  of  the  time  when  Webster  and 
"  Clay  spoke  to  eager  and  applauding  galleries,  and  of  the 
"latex  struggles  after  the  war  began,  when  Breckenridge, 
"  thundering  treason  from  his  seat,  was  met  and  mastered  by 
"by  the  martyred  Baker.  *  *  *  Governor  Morton's 
"  speech  surprised,  even  those  who  knew  his  consummate  abil- 
"  ities.  He  spoke  like  an  inspired  patriot.  I  will  not  attempt 
"  to  give  you  a  glimpse  of  his  tremendous  refutation  of  Dem- 
"  ocratic  falsehoods  or  his  overwhelming  vindication  of  the 
"  Republican  Congress.  *  *  *  He  left  the  chamber  amid 
"  the  admiration  of  his  friends  and  the  respect  of  his  enemies. 
te  No  statesman  who  listened  to  him  but  must  have  been  con- 
"  vinced  that  he  had  heard  a  master,  not  only  in  intellect,  but 
"  in  heart,  a  profound  thinker  and  a  resistless  logician — but 
"  more  than  these,  a  sincere  and  fervent  lover  of  his  country 
"  and  all  the  oppressed  races  of  men."  Hon.  Reverdy  John 
son,  in  the  Senate  at  that  time,  said  "  the  speech  in  manner 
"  and  matter  recalled  the  days  when  the  chamber  was  graced 
"  by  such  men  as  Webster,  Clay  and  Calhoun."  The  next 
day  after  its  delivery  General  Rawlins  read  it  to  General 
Grant,  then  General  of  the  army,  who,  after  hearing  it,  said, 
"  That  settles  it,  Eawlins.  That  one  speech,  if  not  another 
"  word  is  said,  insures  a  Republican  victory  next  fall."  Thad- 
deus  Stevens  declared  that  the  speech  was  the  first  successful 
attempt  to  defend  the  reconstruction  policy  of  Congress.  The 
National  Executive  Committee  had  it  published  as  a  campaign 
document,  and  distributed  2,000,000  copies  of  it  during  the 
ensuing  Presidential  campaign. 

From  that  time  to  the  present  Senator  Morton  has  been 
recognized  as  one  of  the  Republican  leaders,  if  not  distinctively 


58  OLIVER  P.  MORTON. 

the  leader  of  the  Senate.  He  has  been  intimately  identified 
with  every  important  measure  of  legislation,  originating  many 
himself,  and  shaping  or  contributing  largely  to  the  success  of 
others.  Naturally  progressive,  fertile  in  expedients  and 
resources,  devoted  to  principlc/and  untiring  in  the  pursuit  of 
ends  which  he  believes  to  be  just  and  right,  he  has  been  a 
most  powerful  advocate  and  ally  of  the  cause  of  equal  rights 
and  free  government. 

THE  FIFTEENTH  AMENDMENT. 

The  thirteenth  and  fourteenth  amendments  to  the  consti 
tution  were  both  adopted  before  Mr.  Morton  went  into  the 
Senate,  but  his  influence  had  been  effectively  used  in  favor  of 
the  ratification  of  both  in  Indiana.  These,  however,  humane 
and  important  as  they  were,  were  comparatively  inoperative 
without  the  Fifteenth  Amendment,  establishing  universal  suf 
frage.  The  Congressional  policy  of  reconstruction  which 
Senator  Morton  was  so  largely  instrumental  in  shaping,  con 
templated  the  conferring  of  the  suffrage  on  the  negroes  of  the 
South  as  a  measure  at  once  of  justice  to  them  and  protection 
to  the  Union.  This  was  the  object  of  the  Fifteenth  Amend 
ment,  the  discussion  of  which  occupied  a  large  share  of  atten 
tion  during  the  third  session  of  the  Fortieth  Congress,  and 
the  final  ratification  of  which  was  mainly  due  to  Senator 
Morton's  persistence  of  purpose  and  boldness  of  action. 

After  an  exhaustive  debate,  and  an  all  night  session,  the 
report  of  the  Conference  Committee  of  the  Senate,  recom 
mending  the  adoption  of  the  Amendment,  was  agreed  to  early 
on  the  morning  of  the  26, 1869.  Senator  Morton  had  cham 
pioned  the  measure  from  the  beginning,  and  had  been  ably 
seconded  by  other  Republican  Senators.  Senator  Sumner  had 
opposed  it  on  the  double  ground,  first,  that  it  virtually  con 
ceded  that  Congress  had  not  the  power  to  regulate  suffrage  in 
the  States  by  legislation  ;  and  second,  that  even  if  adopted  by 
Congress,  the  Amendment  would  not  be  ratified  by  a  sufficient 
number  of  States  to  make  it  operative.  Three- fourths  of  the 
States,  (twenty-eight)  were  required,  and  to  make  this  number 
Indiana,  Texas,  Virginia,  Mississippi  and  Georgia  would  be 


THE  FIFTEENTH  AMENDMENT.  59 

required  ID  addition  to  those  States  certain  to  ratify.  Mr. 
Siimner  was  confident  that  the  ratification  of  these  States 
could  not  be  secured.  Mr.  Morton,  on  the  other  hand,  believed 
it  could  be.  At  all  events,  he  maintained  that  the  Amendment 
was  just  in  itself,  necessary  to  the  peace  and  security  of  the 
Union,  and  that  it  should  be  adopted  by  Congress  and  the 
question  of  ratification  be  left  to  the  future.  Enough  Senators 
agreed  with  him  to  secure  the  passage  of  the  Amendment  and 
it  was  adopted,  the  Democrats  all  voting  against  it,  and  Mr. 
Sumner  not  voting  at  all.  The  Indiana  Legislature  was  in 
session  at  the  time,  the  Republicans  having  a  majority  in  each 
branch,  but  not  a  quorum  (two-thirds)  in  the  House.  To  pre 
vent  the  ratification  of  the  Amendment  by  the  House,  there 
fore  the  Democratic  members  resigned  in  a  body,  thus  break 
ing  a  quorum.  This  was  treated  as  the  breaking  up  of  the 
Legislature,  and  the  members  of  both  Houses  dispersed  to 
their  homes.  Governor  Baker,  however,  ordered  new  elec 
tions  in  the  counties  from  which  these  members  had  resigned, 
and  in  April,  1869,  convened  the  Legislature  in  extra  session. 
Near  the  close  of  the  session,  the  Republicans  having  an 
nounced  their  purpose  of  ratifying  the  Amendment,  the  Dem 
ocrats  again  resigned  to  break  a  quorum.  This  time,  however, 
they  reckoned  without  their  host.  Senator  Morton  returned 
home  on  the  very  morning  the  resignations  were  handed  in, 
and  learning  what  had  been  done,  he  immediately  sent  word 
to  the  Republican  members  not  to  adjourn,  but  to  meet  him 
that  night  in  consultation  at  the  Supreme  Court  Room.  On 
assembling,  he  addressed  them  at  length,  taking  the  ground 
that  a  quorum  of  the  House  was  not  broken  by  a  resignation 
of  more  than  one-third  of  the  members ;  that  the  constitu 
tional  provision  requiring  two- thirds  of  the  members  of  each 
House  to  constitute  a  quorum  meant  two-thirds  of  the  actual 
members,  and  that  when  a  member  died  or  resigned,  he  was 
no  longer  a  member,  and  could  not  be  counted  as  such,  and 
that  two-thirds  of  the  remaining  members  constituted  a  quo 
rum.  His  argument  was  conclusive  of  the  question,  and  the 
next  morning  both  Houses  of  the  Legislature  met  and  ratified 
the  Amendment.  Their  proceedings  were  duly  certified  to 
the  Secretary  of  State  at  "Washington,  and  Indiana  was 


60  OLIVER  P.  MORTON. 

counted  as  having  ratified  the  Amendment.  The  Democrats 
who  resigned  were  equally  surprised  and  disgusted  at  this 
turn  of  affairs.  The  next  Legislature,  (the  Democrats  being  in 
a  majority)  passed  a  joint  resolution  declaring  the  "pretended  " 
ratification  "null  and  void,"  and  "withdrawing  and  rescinding 
"  all  action,  perfect  and  imperfect,  on  the  part  of  this  State, 
"purporting  to  assent  to,  and  ratify  said  proposed  Fifteenth 
"Amendment."  Their  protest,  however,  amounted  to  nothing, 
and  Indiana  remained  in  line. 

THE  RATIFICATION    OF  THREE  MORE  STATES  SECURED. 

Pending  the  passage  of  the  Fifteenth  Amendment,  a  bill  was 
introduced  in  the  House  authorizing  the  President  to  recon 
struct  Virginia,  Texas  and  Mississippi.  Here  was  another 
opportunity,  and  Senator  Morton  seized  it.  When  the 
bill  reached  the  Senate,  he  submitted  as  an  amendment  an 
additional  section,  providing  that  before  these  States  should  be 
admitted  to  representation  in  Congress  they  should  ratify  the 
proposed  Fifteenth  Amendment.  The  bill  and  amendment  were 
referred  to  the  Judiciary  Committee,  which  reported  adversely 
to  the  amendment.  A  three  days'  debate  ensued,  in  which 
Senator  Trumbull,  chairman  of  the  Judiciary  Committee,  led 
in  support  of  thr  committee's  report,  and  Senator  Morton  in 
support  of  his  amendment.  This  debate  brought  Senator 
Morton  again  prominently  before  the  Senate  and  the  country. 
The  importance  of  the  subject,  and  the  ability  with  which  the 
debate  was  conducted,  caused  it  to  be  regarded  with  unusual 
interest.  Mr.  Trumbull  was  deemed  the  best  lawyer  in  the 
Senate,  and  was  a  very  able  debater,  but  in  this  contest  Sen 
ator  Morton  showed  himself  fully  the  equal  of  the  distin 
guished  Senator  from  Illinois,  both  as  a  lawyer  and  debater. 
"  Senator  Morton,"  said  a  correspondent  of  the  New  York 
Times,  "  took  both  the  legal  and  humane  aspects  of  the  case 
"into  account,  and  sustained  his  propositions  by  a  masterly 
"  argument,  excelling,  if  that  be  possible,  his  former  speech 
"  on  reconstruction."  At  the  conclusion  of  the  debate  a  vote 
was  taken,  and  Senator  Morton  was  sustained.  His  amend 
ment  passed  the  Senate  and  subsequently  the  House.  Thus 


KU-KL  UX  LEGISLATION.  G 1 

the   ratification   of  Virginia,   Texas    and    Mississippi  was 
secured. 

There  remained  but  one  more  obstinate  State  to  secure,  viz., 
Georgia.  This  State  had  been  reconstructed  in  1868,  but  had 
subsequently  violated  faith  with  the  Government  by  expelling 
all  the  colored  members  of  the  Legislature,  on  the  ground  that 
they  were  not  eligible  to  hold  office.  In  December,  1869, 
therefore,  Senator  Morton  introduced  a  bill  instructing  the 
military  commandant  to  reconvene  the  Georgia  Legislature, 
including  the  colored  members  elect,  and  authorizing  it  thus 
convened  to  proceed  to  the  work  of  reconstruction  by  the  elec 
tion  of  two  United  States  Senators,  who  should  become  entitled 
to  their  seats  as  soon  as  the  Legislature  should  ratify  the  Fif 
teenth  Amendment.  The  Judiciary  Committee,  as  before,  took 
exception  to  the  last  provision,  and  reported  against  it. 
Another  debate  ensued,  similar  in  spirit  to  the  former,  and 
conducted  with  equal  ability.  On  this  occasion  Senator  Mor 
ton  was  opposed  by  Senator  Carpenter  and  others.  As 
before,  however,  he  was  successful,  his  bill  passing  the  Senate 
in  its  original  shape  by  seven  majority.  Thus  was  secured 
the  ratification  of  the  last  of  the  five  States  which,  a  year 
previously,  Senator  Sumner  had  declared  could  not  be  secured, 
and  the  Fifteenth  Amendment  became  a  part  of  the  constitu 
tion.  The  ratification  of  that  noble  and  beneficent  measure 
might,  in  time,  have  been  secured  by  other  means,  but  it 
stands  to-day  a  grand  and  perpetual  monument  of  Senator 
Morton's  persistency  of  purpose,  fertility  of  resources,  and 
unflinching  devotion  to  the  cause  of  justice. 

THE   KU-KLTJX    LEGISLATION. 

In  all  of  Mr.  Morton's  public  life  there  is  nothing  more 
honorable  to  him  than  his  course  with  regard  to  the  Southern 
States.  Rebels  and  rebel  sympathizers  have  found  pleasure 
in  stigmatizing  him  as  "  the  apostle  of  hate,"  etc.,  but  the 
impartial  historian  will  write  that  his  whole  course  towards 
the  States  and  the  people  of  the  South  has  been  actuated  by  a 
desire  to  establish  justice,  insure  tranquility,  elevate  the 
oppressed,  and  protect  the  weak  and  helpless.  No  man  living 


62  OLIVER  P.  MORTON. 

entertains  towards  the  people  of  the  South,  in  so  far  as  they 
d-j  right  and  obey  the  laws,  a  more  just  and  kindly  feeling 
than  Senator  Morton ;  but  he  is  the  determined  enemy  of 
lawlessness,  the  unyielding  champion  of  equal  rights,  and 
the  best  friend  of  the  South  in  that  he  represents  the  only 
principles  on  which  the  Union  can  be  rendered  permanent  and 
peaceable. 

About  the  close  of  the  summer  session  of  1870,  Senator 
Morton  first  called  the  attention  of  Congress  to  the  fact  that 
numerous  outrages  were  being  perpetrated  and  general  intim 
idation  practiced  in  the  South  for  political  purposes,  and 
charged  that  an  organization  existed  in  various  parts  of  the 
South  for  the  purpose  of  encouraging  and  perpetrating  these 
outrages.  His  first  speech  on  the  subject  was  replied  to  by 
Senator  Trumbull,  who  ridiculed  the  idea  of  such  an  organi 
zation.  During  vacation,  however,  evidence  accumulated, 
and  at  the  opening  of  the  next  session  of  Congress  Senator 
Morton  offered  a  resolution  authorizing  the  appointment  of  a 
committee  to  investigate  and  report  upon  the  subject.  The 
Senate,  however,  was  not  yet  ready  to  act.  His  next  step  was 
the  introduction  of  a  resolution  calling  on  the  President  for 
whatever  information  he  might  have  in  regard  to  the  commis 
sion  of  outrages  in  the  South.  The  President  did  not  respond 
for  some  time,  and  when  he  did  some  Senators  evinced  a 
strong  disposition  to  adjourn  without  taking  any  action  in  the 
premises.  Senator  Morton,  however,  was  convinced  that 
something  must  be  done  to  protect  life  at  the  South  and  put 
a  stop  to  the  murders  and  outrages  which  were  now  growing 
more  and  more  frequent.  He  accordingly  determined  to  pre 
vent  an  adjournment  of  the  Senate  till  some  measure  to  that 
end  could  be  perfected,  and,  if  possible,  passed.  The  result 
was  that,  after  a  protracted  and  earnest  debate,  extending 
through  several  weeks,  the  Senate  passed  an  act  entitled  "An 
act  to  enforce  the  rights  of  citizens  of  the  United  States  to 
vote  in  the  several  States  of  this  Union,  and  for  other  pur 
poses/5  which  became  commonly  known  as  "  The  Ku-klux 
Act."  And,  finally,  when  upon  his  original  motion  a  commit 
tee  was  appointed  to  investigate  as  to  the  alleged  existence  of 
the  ku-klux  organization,  their  report  showed  a  condition  of 


THE  LOUISIANA  QUESTION.  63 

affairs  which  startled  the  Nation  and  shocked  the  civilized 
world.  Their  report  completely  vindicated  Senator  Morton's 
wisdom  and  justified  all  he  had  said  and  done  in  this  behalf. 

THE  LOUISIANA  QUESTION. 

One  of  the  greatest  political  contests  of  recent  times  was 
the  long  struggle,  hardly  ended  yet,  running  through  several 
years,  and  embracing  many  ramifications  and  phases,  commonly 
known  as  the  Louisiana  question.  Briefly,  it  was  a  case  of 
two  contending  State  governments,  each  claiming  to  be  legal 
and  genuine,  and  asking  for  recognition  by  the  General  Gov 
ernment.  In  point  of  fact  it  was  an  effort  on  the  part  of  the 
Democracy  in  that  State  to  override  the  will  of  the  majority 
and  establish  themselves  in  power  by  violence.  Senator 
Morton  espoused  the  cause  of  the  Kellogg  government,  and 
defended  it  with  such  an  array  of  facts  and  precedents,  and 
legal  argument  as  made  the  end  certain  from  the  beginning. 
The  contest  was  stubborn  and  long  continued,  but  at  each 
renewal  of  it,  Senator  Morton  established  and  secured  his 
points. 

During  the  last  session  of  the  Forty-second  Congress,  a 
committee  was  appointed  to  investigate  the  Louisiana  case. 
It  consisted  of  Senators  Carpenter,  Logan,  Anthony,  Alcorn, 
of  Mississippi,  Hill,  of  Georgia,  Trumbull  and  Morton.  After 
an  exhaustive  investigation,  Messrs.  Carpenter,  Logan,  An 
thony  and  Alcorn  reported  that  the  election  under  which 
both  State  governments  were  claiming,  was  void  for  fraud, 
but  admitted  that  if  it  had  been  fairly  conducted  Kellogg 
must  have  been  elected  Governor  by  at  least  15,000  majority. 
Messrs.  Trumbull  and  Hill  took  the  ground  that  McEnery 
was  elected.  Senator  Morton  alone  reported  and  mantained 
that  while  the  election  was  characterized  by  great  fraud  and 
violence,  Governor  Kellogg  had  a  majority  of  the  vote  cast 
and  was  clearly  elected  ;  that  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  State, 
which  was  elected  in  1868  and  was  therefore  out  of  the  dis 
pute,  had  recognized  the  Kellogg  government ;  that  the  decis 
ions  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  State  were  conclusive  on  all 
questions  arising  exclusively  under  the  Constitution  and  laws 


64  OLIVER  P.  MORTON. 

of  Louisiana,  and  that  the  validity  of  the  State  election  was 
such  a  question.  Pending  these  reports,  Mr.  Carpenter  intro 
duced  a  bill  setting  aside  the  election,  and  authorizing  the 
President  to  order  a  new  one  to  be  held  under  Federal  super 
vision.  A  three  days'  debate  ensued,  in  which,  Senator  Mor 
ton,  single-handed  and  alone,  opposed  the  passage  of  the  bill. 
Messrs.  Carpenter,  Anthony,  Logan,  and  Alcorn  advocated 
the  measure  very  earnestly.  They  brought  their  combined 
powers  to  bear  against  Senator  Morton,  but  without  effect. 
He  scarcely  ever  appeared  to  greater  advantage  than  in  this 
debate,  and  at  its  conclusion,  Mr.  Carpenter's  bill  was  defeated 
by  two  majority.  Subsequently,  Senator  Morton's  report  was 
adopted  by  the  Senate,  the  Kellogg  government  recognized, 
and  the  President's  support  of  it  against  the  attempted  revo 
lution  of  the  White  Leaguers  was  sustained  by  the  votes  of 
all  the  Republican  members  of  the  Senate.  During  the  ses 
sion  of  1873-4,  Mr.  Carpenter  again  introduced  his  bill  for  a 
new  election  in  Louisiana,  and  re-opened  the  debate.  As  it 
progressed,  however,  he  discovered  that  Senator  Morton's 
position  was  more  impregnable  than  ever,  and  his  following 
stronger ;  so  he  finally  abandoned  his  own  measure  and  came 
to  the  support  of  Mr.  Morton. 

CHAIRMAN  OF  COMMITTEE  ON    PRIVILEGES  AND    ELECTIONS. 

It  is  freely  charged  against  Senator  Morton  (and  really  it 
is  the  only  charge  brought  against  him)  that  he  is  wholly 
devoted  to  party,  and  has  no  convictions  or  motives  beyond 
those  of  mere  partisanship.  A  more  unjust  or  untrue  assertion 
could  not  be  made.  He  is,  indeed,  an  ardent  Republican.  He 
believes  wholly  and  unreservedly  in  Republican  principles,  and 
that  the  welfare  and  safety  of  the  country  depend  on  the  reten 
tion  of  the  Republican  party  in  power.  He  cordially  detests 
because  he  fully  understands  the  malignant  spirit  and  dangerous 
purposes  of  the  Democratic  party,  and  believes  that  its  restora 
tion  to  power  would  be  a  public  calamity.  But  he  is  as  honest 
in  politics  as  he  is  in  pecuniary  matters,  and  no  person  can  point 
to  a  single  act  of  his  public  life  not  dictated  by  a  desire  to  do 
justice  and  defend  the  right.  As  chairman  of  the  committee 


THE  CALDWELL  CASE.  65 

above  referred  to,  he  lias  had  ample  opportunity  to  sacrifice  prin 
ciple  to  partisanship,  but  in  no  case  has  he  ever  done  so.  He 
has  treated  every  question  brought  before  him  in  a  spirit  of 
lofty  justice  and  judicial  fairness,  keeping  constantly  in  view  his 
responsibility  to  the  Senate  and  the  rights  and  dignity  of  the 
body.  The  case  of  Caldwell,  of  Kansas,  is  in  point.  Caldwell 
was  charged  with  having  bought  his  election  to  the  Senate.  As 
Chairman  of  the  Committe  on  Elections  it  became  the  duty 
of  Senator  Morton  to  investigate  the  case,  and  upon  the  evi 
dence,  adduced  he  reported  in  favor  of  CaldwelPs  expulsion, 
and  took  high  ground  in  favor  of  purifying  the  Senate.  There 
was  no  question  of  CaldwelPs  guilt,  but  his  friends  demanded 
that  the  Senate  should  simply  declare  his  election  void,  instead 
of  expelling  him.  Some  of  the  ablest  members  of  the  Senate 
opposed  Morton  in  this  matter,  but  he  so  pressed  the  corrupt 
Senator  that  in  order  to  escape  the  certainty  of  impending 
expulsion  he  resigned.  Of  Mr.  Morton's  action  in  this  case, 
the  Washington  correspondent  of  the  Chicago  Tribune  said 

"  To  take  position  against  Caldwell  as  Morton  did,  required  some  mental 
"  and  moral  courage,  for  the  Senate  is  such  a  little  body  that  fellowship 
"  prevails  in  it  as  in  a  female  seminary.  A  big  conspiracy  gathered  around 
M  Caldwell  for  his  support ;  but  Morton  is  a  man  who  kindles  and  enlarges 
"  by  opposition,  when  aware  that  his  cause  is  legitimate  and  popular.  * 
"  *  *  He  had  prepared  a  closing  speech  to  overwhelm  Caldwell ;  and  from 
"  what  I  have  heard  of  the  contents  of  that  speech,  I  presume  that,  had  he 
**  delivered  it,  it  would  have  spread  his  reputation  abroad  as  one  of  the  most 
"determined  political  reformers  of  his  time.  *  *  *  Senator  Morton, 
H  with  his  great  energies,  clear  sagacity  and  adaptability,  and  solid  acquire- 
41  ments,  can  be  one  of  the  leading  spirits  of  our  period,  if  he  continues  to 
"  remedy  and  lighten  and  harmonize  matters  as  he  has  recently  been  doing." 

The  press  of  the  country  generally  gave  Senator  Morton 
great  credit  for  his  conduct  of  the  case.  The  St.  Louis  Dem 
ocrat  said : 

"  Senator  Morton  deserves  great  credit  for  the  boldness  and  energy  with 
11  which  he  pressed  the  matter  upon  the  attention  of  the  Senate.  The  coun- 
"try  owes  him  much  for  what  he  has  done." 

The  Leavenworth  Sentinel  said : 

"  Especially  will  the  people  of  Kansas  hold  in  grateful  remembrance  the 
"able  and  untiring  and  successful  efforts  of  Senator  Morton,  of  Indiana, 
"  in  bringing  this  guilty  man  to  a  proper  sense  of  his  unworthii 

d 

J^t       OT  THE 

ITJITIVERSITY; 


66  OLIVER  P.  MORTON. 

The  Topeka  Daily  Commonwealth  said : 

"  Next  to  his  immediate  people  of  Indiana,  Senator  Morton  has  the  most 
"indefeasable  claim  on  the  gratitude  and  regard  of  the  people  of  the  State 
"  of  Kansas.  As  chairman  of  the  Committee  on  Privileges  and  Elections, 
"  and  on  the  floor  of  the  Senate,  he  fought  the  fight  against  bribery  and 
"  corruption  for  us  when  we  were  without  a  champion." 

Nearly  all  of  the  leading  papers  of  the  country  spoke  in 
the  same  strain. 

The  Caldwell  case  is  a  type  of  Senator  Morton's  whole 
conduct  as  Chairman  of  the  Committee  on  Elections  in  the 
Senate.  Every  question  has  been  approached  in  a  spirit  of 
justice,  without  regard  to  partisan  bearings,  and  treated  with 
a  strictly  judicial  fairness.  The  rights  of  the  Senate  have 
been  kept  constantly  in  view,  while  the  rights  of  individuals 
have  received  the  utmost  consideration  consistent  with  the 
dignity  and  purity  of  the  Senate. 

In  1873  this  committee  was  directed  by  resolution  to  report 
"  the  best  and  most  practicable  mode  of  electing  the  Presi 
dent  and  Vice  President,  and  providing  a  tribunal  to  adjust 
and  decide  all  contested  elections  connected  therewith."  In 
response  to  this  resolution  Senator  Morton  made  an  elaborate 
report,  setting  forth  the  inconvenience  and  cumbrousness  of 
the  electoral  college,  and  proposed  a  plan  for  its  practical 
abolition  by  the  election  of  President  and  Vice  President  by 
popular  vote.  At  the  same  time  he  proposed  a  remedy  for' 
the  possible  and  dangerous  emergency  of  a  contested  electoral 
representation.  His  ideas  on  the  latter  subject  have  been, 
practically  adopted  by  changing  the  mode  of  counting  elec 
toral  votes,  and  it  can  hardly  be  doubted  that  his  proposition 
for  the  abolition  of  the  electoral  college  and  the  election  of 
President  and  Vice  President  by  popular  vote  will  be  adopted 
at  no  distant  day,  in  substance  if  not  in  form. 

AMNESTY. 

As  before  stated,  Senator  Morton  has  never  been  actuated 
by  a  feeling  of  hostility  to  the  South.  His  ruling  sentiment. 
has  been  one  of  loyalty  to  the  Union,  fidelity  to  principle, 
and  justice  to  all.  He  has  repeatedly  said  that  the  Southern 


AMNESTY.  67 

people  had  in  their  own  hands  the  power  of  restoring  perfect 
peace  by  obeying  the  Constitution  and  the  laws  in  good  faith, 
and  recognizing  the  principle  of  political  toleration.  But  he 
has  opposed  with  all  the  force  and  determination  of  his  nature 
the  admission  of  unrepentant  rebels  to  a  full  participation  in 
government,  or  the  practical  obliteration  of  the  dividing  line 
between  loyalty  and  treason.  He  believes  that  there  is  such 
a  thing  as  treason,  and  that  those  who  engaged  it  should  have 
been  made  to  feel  some  of  its  consequences.  He  believes 
that  during  the  civil  war  there  was  a  right  side  and  a  wrong 
side,  and  that  public  opinion,  at  least,  if  not  the  law  of  the 
land,  should  recognize  a  distinction  between  those  who  fought 
for  the  Government  and  those  who  fought  against  it.  Shortly 
after  the  close  of  the  war,  in  his  message  to  the  Indiana  Leg 
islature  in  November,  1865,  he  said : 

"  While  the  heresy  of  State  sovereignty  has  been  extirpated,  and  the  ques- 
"  tions  involved  in  the  conflict  settled  by  the  arbitrament  of  arms,  it  is  yet 
"  of  the  greatest  importance  to  the  Nation  that  these  questions  be  acljudi- 
"catedand  determined  by  the  highest  judicial  tribunal,  which  might  most 
"  appropriately  be  done  in  a  trial,  for  high  treason  and  other  atrocious 
"  crimes,  of  the  chief  and  head  of  this  most  wicked  and  bloody  rebellion. 
"  It  should  be  definitely  established  as  a  principle  in  our  Constitution,  both 
"by  judicial  decision  and  example  of  punishment,  that  rebellion  is  treason, 
"  that  treason  is  a  crime  which  may  not  be  committed  with  impunity ;  and 
"  that  there  is  but  one  sovereignty,  which  resides  in  the  collective  and  undi- 
"  vided  people  of  the  United  States." 

In  the  light  of  subsequent  events,  it  cannot  be  doubted 
that  the  country  would  have  been  the  gainer  by  such  a  judi 
cial  determination  of  the  crime  of  treason,  or  that  it  is  likely 
to  experience  more  and  more  sharply  the  evil  results  of  a  too 
lenient  policy. 

In  January,  1872,  a  bill  was  introduced  in  the  Senate  for 
the  removal  of  all  disabilities  imposed  by  the  third  section 
of  the  Fourteenth  Amendment — in  other  words  for  universal 
amnesty.  Senator  Morton  opposed  it  in  a  speech  delivered 
on  the  23d  of  that  month.  After  premising  that  amnesty 
was  usually  considered  in  the  light  of  expediency  on  one  hand, 
or  of  passion  on  the  other,  he  said  he  proposed  to  consider  it 
from  a  higher  plane,  entirely  above  the  domain  of  feeling  or 
expediency.  He  said : 

"  I  think  there  is  a  great  principle  involved  which  Congress  ought  to  con- 


68  OLIVER  P.  MORTON. 

"  sider — a  principle  of  consistency,  of  duty  to  the  Government,  and  espec 
ially  a  principle  of  the  greatest  importance  to  posterity." 

As  to  the  real  meaning  and  effect  of  amnesty,  which  he 
declared  as  an  act  of  oblivioJ,  he  said : 

"  Universal  amnesty  removes  the  last  mark  of  legal  disapprobation  of 
"  this  rebellion.  It  is  a  declaration  to  posterity  that  there  was  nothing 
"  wrong  in  the  rebellion,  that  it  involved  no  criminality,  that  it  was  simply 
"  an  honest  difference  of  opinion  between  parties,  in  which  there  was  no 
"  criminality  on  either  side.  '  *  Sir,  I  want  peace  in  the  South ;  I 

"  want  it  as  earnestly  as  any  man  can  ;  but  I  want  peace  in  the  South  on 
"  correct  principles.  I  am  not  willing  to  purchase  peace  by  Conceding  that 
"  they  were  right  and  that  we  were  wrong.  They  must  regard  universal 
"  amnesty  in  that  light ;  history  must  regard  it  in  that  light." 

After  further  discussing  the  moral  effect  of  universal 
amnesty,  with  the  probable  results  of  the  restoration  of  the 
Democratic  party  to  power,  through  the  votes  of  the  ex-rebels, 
he  continued : 

"  Mr.  President,  to  me  universal  amnesty  Beems  like  sickly  sentimental- 
"  ism ;  it  is  magnanimity  slopping  over  ;  it  is  spurious  generosity,  oblivious 
"  alike  of  justice,  of  principle  and  of  posterity.  Let  us  have  a  little  healthy 
"  public  sentiment.  Let  us  have  something  this  nation  can  live  by.  Let  us 
"  teach  a  lesson  in  history  that  we  are  willing  our  children  shall  be  governed 
"  by.  Let  us  not  say  to  future  generations  that  those  who  sought  to  destroy 
"  the  best  government  tn  the  world,  who  sought  to  build  a  new  government 
"  whose  corner-stone  should  be  human  slavery,  who  were  guilty  of  inhu- 
"  manity,  and  who  practiced  a  barborism  that  belonged  to  times  long  gone 
"  by — let  us  not  say  to  future  generations  that  these  men  did  no  wrong,  that 
"  they  were  worthy  of  all  acceptation,  and  of  again  being  returned  to  the 
"  highest  positions  in  the  Government." 

The  extracts  do  not  represent  the  scope  and  comprehensive 
ness  of  the  speech,  but  they  indicate  its  spirit.  It  was  a  plea 
for  loyalty  against  treason,  for  the  real  rights  of  the  Govern 
ment  against  imaginary  rights  of  rebels.  Towards  the  close 
of  the  speech  he  was  several  times  interrupted  by  Democratic 
Senators,  when,  changing  the  course  of  his  argument,  he 
attacked  the  recent  record  of  the  Democratic  party,  showing 
its  avowed  hostility  to  the  Constitutional  amendments  and  to 
political  equality  in  the  South.  He  demonstrated  beyond  a 
doubt  that  their  purpose  was  to  undo  the  reconstruction  acts 
of  Congress,  overthrow  the  State  governments  then  established 
in  the  South,  and  re-organize  them  on  the  "  White  man's 
"  basis."  In  the  light  of  subsequent  events  some  portions  of 


A  POLITICAL  LEADER.  69 

this  speech  read  like  a  prophecy,  and  each  succeeding  year 
furnishes  additional  proof  of  the  speaker's  political  prescience. 
The  amnesty  bill  was  defeated  in  the  Senate,  and  this  speech 
of  Senator  Morton's,  which  was  mainly  instrumental  in  the 
result,  was  published  as  a  campaign  document  and  circulated 
far  and  wide  in  the  campaign  of  1868. 

A.    NATURAL   LEADER. 

Space  would  fail  us  to  recount  all  of  Senator  Morton's  ser 
vices  in  the  Senate  to  the  cause  of  liberty,  union  and  prog 
ress.  At  all  times  and  in  all  circumstances  he  has  been  the 
faithful  champion  of  Republican  principles,  instant  in  season 
and  out  of  season,  always  ready  to  lead  in  attack  or  defense 
as  occasion  might  require.  No  man  now  in  public  life  has 
been  identified  with  so  many  great  public  measures  either  as 
author  or  champion.  If  his  services  to  the  Republican  party 
have  been  such  as  to  deserve  the  gratitude  of  all  Republicans, 
his  services  to  the  cause  of  liberty  and  humanity  challenge 
the  admiration  of  every  patriot  and  philanthropist.  Nature 
and  circumstances  have  united  to  make  him  a  political  leader. 
His  remarkable  political  sagacity  and  foresight  have  been 
supplemented  by  large  experience  and  knowledge  of  men 
and  affairs.  He  is  bold  without  being  rash,  sanguine  without 
being  over  confident,  always  cool,  never  losing  his  self  con 
trol,  never  forgetting  what  is  due  to  an  opponent  or  to  himself, 
and,  above  all,  never  forgetting  to  press  steadily  toward  his 
objective  point.  Once  committed  to  a  great  measure  he 
knows  no  such  word  as  fail.  The  foregoing  pages  furnish 
abundant  evidence  of  his  persistence  of  purpose  and  fertility 
of  resources.  He  knows  the  Democratic  party  thoroughly, 
and  exposes  its  plans  and  purposes  with  an  accuracy  as  mar 
velous  as  it  is  relentless. 

His  own  strong  and  conscientious  convictions  in  politics 
seem  to  bring  him  into  close  accord  with  the  people,  and  he 
rarely  fails  to  interpret  their  feelings  and  wishes  aright.  For 
this  reason,  among  others,  he  has  ever  since  the  war  been 
looked  to  by  the  Republicans,  not  alone  of  Indiana,  but  of 
other  States,  to  lead  the  attack  on  the  Democratic  party. 


70  OLIVER  P.  MORTON. 

For  ten  years  past  he  has  borne  an  active  part  in  the  cam 
paigns  of  other  States  than  Indiana,  generally  being  called 
upon  to  open  the  campaign  and  sound  the  key  note.  His 
services  last  year  in  Ohio,  Pennsylvania  and  Maine  are  still 
fresh  in  the  memories  of  Republicans  in  those  States.  He 
was  the  first  speaker  from  any  other  State  to  enter  Ohio  and 
the  last  to  leave  it,  delivering  the  first  speech  made  by  any 
non-resident,  on  the  7th  of  August,  at  Urbana,  and  follow 
ing  it  up  with  a  series  of  powerful  and  effective  addresses. 
His  last  speech  ii}  the  State  was  delivered  at  Cincinnati  on 
the  Saturday  night  before  the  election.  In  Indiana  it  is 
hardly  necessary  to  say  he  is  the  head  and  front  of  every 
campaign,  so  far  as  the  Republicans  are  concerned.  The 
party  in  this  State  embraces  many  other  able  and  eloquent 
'men,  but  none  who  has  such  a  hold  on  the  hearts  of  the  peo 
ple,  or  whose  tremendous  power  is  so  universally  felt  and  rec 
ognized.  The  secret  of  Senator  Morton's  force  as  a  speaker 
lies  in  his  terrible  earnestness  and  irresistible  logic.  He 
never  trifles  with  his  audiences  or  underrates  their  intelli 
gence.  He  rarely,  if  ever,  indulges  in  anecdotes  or  pleas 
antry.  His  style  is  dignified,  severe,  and  argumentative,  yet 
so  simple  as  to  interest  all  classes  of  hearers,  while  his  logic 
carries  conviction  to  all  minds  alike.  As  a  politic::!  organ 
izer  he  has  no  superior.  His  services  in  this  regard  have 
been  invaluable  to  the  Republicans  of  Indiana,  and  his  coun 
sel  and  advice  are  often  sought  by  those  of  other  States. 

HIS    POSITION   ON    THE    CURRENCY  QUESTION. 

From  the  first  issue  of  legal  tender  notes  during  the  war 
and  their  subsequent  speedy  depreciation,  Mr.  Morton  has 
recognized  the  evils  of  a  depreciated  currency  and  the  neces 
sity  of  placing  it  upon  a  stable  basis  as  soon  as  it  could  be  done 
without  unnecessary  injury  to  the  business  of  the  country. 
In  dealing  with  this  difficult  problem,  while  keeping  steadily 
in  view  the  ultimate  resumption  of  specie  payments,  he  has 
aimed  to  shape  the  policy  of  the  Government  so  that  this  end 
might  be  reached  with  the  least  shock  to  business  and  the 
least  distress  to  business  men.  In  his  speech  at  Urbana, 


THE  UNITED  STATES  A  NATION.  71 

Ohio,  delivered  on  the  7th  of  August,  1875,  after  speaking  of 
the  origin,  object  and  effect  of  the  so-called  Resumption  Act, 
he  said : 

"  I  had  something  to  do  with  tho  preparation  of  this  bill,  voted  for  it  in 
"good  faith,  and  intend  to  stand  by  it  until  experience  has  demonstrated 
"  that  it  is  impracticable  or  needs  amendment.  Its  main  feature,  fixing  a 
"  day  for  resumption  and  providing  for  it,  I  had  proposed  to  the  Senate 
"  six  years  before,  and  whether  the  time  fixed  for  it  is  a  proper  one  or  not, 
"  and  I  should  have  preferred  it  a  year  or  two  later,  it  is  the  method  by 
"  by  which,  I  believe,  specie  payments  can  and  will  be  reached.  It  estab- 
"  lishcs  the  policy  of  free  banking,  the  slow,  gradual,  but  sure  return  to 
"  specie  payments,  and  no  contraction  or  expansion  of  the  currency  until 
"  that  time. 

This  is  still  his  position.  It  may  be  added  that  he  has 
always  been  opposed  to  the  increase  of  greenbacks  beyond  the 
original  limit  of  §400,000,000,  and  has  denounced  every  prop 
osition  of  the  kind,  and  particularly  the  proposition  to  issue  new 
greenbacks  in  payment  of  the  bonds,  as  equivalent  to  robbery 
and  repudiation.  Prior  to  the  panic  of  1873,  he  had  steadily 
advocated  legislation  looking  to  the  early  resumption  of  specie 
payments.  When  that  event  occurred,  believing  that  the  per 
iod  of  resumption  was  necessarily  postponed  for  a  considera 
ble  time,  and  that  the  true  remedy  for,  and  relief  from,  the 
panic  was  that  which  had  long  been  successfully  employed  in 
England  in  similar  emergencies,  viz :  a  moderate  increase  of 
the  currency,  he  advised  the  President  to.  put  into  circulation 
the  §44,000,000  reserve  of  greenbacks  then  in  the  treasury, 
but  he  did  not  then  advocate,  and  never  has  advocated  any 
increase  of  the  greenback  circulation  beyond  the  original  legal 
limit  of  §400,000,000. 

THE   UNITED   STATES   A    NATION. 

No  American  statesman  of  the  present  generation  has 
labored  so  hard  or  so  effectively  as  Senator  Morton  to  incul 
cate  the  idea  that  the  United  States  are  a  Nation,  and  not  a 
mere  confederation  of  states.  To  his  mind  the  former  idea 
embraces  the  true  conception  of  our  governmental  system,  and 
the  only  one  on  which  the  Union  can  be  made  enduring,  while 
the  latter  contains  the  very  elements  of  weakness,  disintegra- 


72  OLIVER  P.  MORTON. 

tion  and  ruin.  In  the  attempted  secession  of  the  Southern 
States,  and  the  war  which  followed,  he  saw  the  natural  fruits 
of  the  doctrine  that  the  Government  is  a  mere  confederation 
of  states,  and  the  resultant  heresy  of  State  rights ;  while  in 
the  efforts  of  the  Government  to  preserve  the  Union  and  its 
own  existence  he  recognized  the  grand  idea  of  a  new  nation 
ality.  In  a  message  to  the  Indiana  Legislature,  in  November, 
1865,  shortly  after  the  close  of  the  war,  he  said  : 

"  The  war  has  established  upon  imperishable  foundations  the  great  funda- 
"  mental  truth  of  the  unity  and  indivisibility  of  the  Nation.  We  are  many 
"  States,  but  one  people,  having  one  undivided  sovereignty,  one  flag,  and  one 
"common  destiny." 

In  a  lecture,  delivered  at  Providence,  Rhode  Island,  Novem 
ber  27,  1871,  in  the  Franklin  Lyceum  course,  he  took  for  his 
theme  the  "  National  Idea,"  and  elaborated  the  subject  very 
thoroughly,  tracing  the  the  development  of  the  State  Sover 
eignty  doctrine  from  the  resolations  of  1798  to  the  breaking 
out  of  the  rebellion,  and  showing  how  pregnant  it  had  always 
been  with  danger  to  the  country.  In  the  course  of  this  address 
Senator  Morton  said : 

"  The  idea  that  we  are  a  Nation,  that  we  are  one  people,  undivided  and 
"  indivisible,  should  be  a  plank  in  the  platform  of  every  party.  It  should 
"  be  presented  on  the  banner  of  every  party.  It  should  be  taught  in  every 
"school,  academy  and  college.  It  should  be  the  political  north  star,  by 
"  which  every  political  manager  should  steer  his  bark.  It  should  be  the 
"  central  idea  of  American  politics,  and  every  child  should,  so  to  speak,  be 
"vaccinated  with  the  idea,  that  he  may  be  protected  against  this  political 
"  distemper  that  has  brought  such  calamity  upon  our  country." 

Similar  quotations  might  be  made  at  length.  From  nearly 
all  his  speeches  and  addresses  delivered  in  or  out  of  the  Sen 
ate  during  the  last  ten  years,  the  idea  crops  out  with  ever 
recurring  force  that  the  American  people  are  one  people,  and 
this  Government  a  government  of  the  people  and  not  of 
States — in  short,  that  we  are  a  Nation,  and  not  a  Confederacy. 
There  is  now  pending  in  the  Senate  a  series  of  resolutions, 
introduced  by  him,  declaratory  of  this  idea  as  against  the 
opposing  one  of  State  sovereignty,  upon  which  he  will  speak 
whenever,  in  the  course  of  public  business,  the  question  can 
be  reached. 


SERVICES  RECOGNIZED.  73 


RECOGNITION  OF  HIS  SERVICES. 

A  man  of  Senator  Morton's  positive  character  must  needs 
have  warm  friends  and  bitter  enemies.  During  the  whole 
of  his  public  life  he  has  held  strong  convictions  on  all  public 
questions,  dodging  nothing,  evading  no  responsibility,  and 
never  concealing  his  opinions.  In  every  contest  for  principle 
he  has  been  in  the  thickest  of  the  fight,  and  generally  lead 
ing  the  way.  Thus  he  has  won  for  himself  the  enthusiastic 
support  of  the  rank  and  file  of  the  Republican  party,  the  pro 
found  respect  of  all  who  admire  consistent  devotion  to  prin 
ciple  and  the  bitter  hatred  of  Democrats  generally.  He  has 
exposed  and  defeated  the  plans  of  the  Democracy  so  often, 
routed  them  on  so  many  fields,  and  pointed  the  way  to  Repub 
lican  victory  in  so  many  contests,  that  they  stand  in  mortal 
fear  of  him  and  hate  him  in  the  same  proportion. 

But  while  Senator  Morton  has  the  honor  of  being  the  most 
cordially  hated  and  best  abused  man  in  the  Nation  by  ex-rebels, 
rebel  sympathizers,  and  Democrats,  he  has  also  received  such 
evidences  of  approval  from  many  quarters  as  any  public  man 
might  well  be  proud  of.  It  is  needless  to  speak  of  his  popu 
larity  and  strength  in  Indiana.  The  Republicans  of  his  own 
State  delight  to  honor  him.  They  elected  him  Governor  in 
1864  by  the  largest  majority  ever  given  in  the  State,  and  have 
since  twice  elected  him  unanimously  to  the  United  States 
Senate.  But  recognition  of  his  services  to  the  country  and 
the  Republican  party  has  not  been  confined  to  the  people  of 
Indiana.  In  September,  1862,  Secretary  Chase  said,  in  a  let 
ter  to  Robert  Dale  Owen,  "  Governor  Morton  merits  all  you 
"  promise.  I  have  believed  in  him  from  the  first  day  I  saw 
"  him."  Admiral  Foote  wrote  to  a  brother  of  his  during  the 
war,  "  Governor  Morton  furnished  me  the  powder  with  which 
"  my  Jleet  took  Fort  Henry.  He  is  our  mainstay  in  the 
"  West."  General  Grant  acknowledged  his  services  several 
different  times  in  letters  which  have  since  been  lost.  After 
the  close  of  the  war,  Secretary  Chase  wrote  him  as  follows : 

"  WASHINGTON,  Nov.  10, 1865. 

"  MY  DEAR  GOVERNOR  :    I  think  it  is  the  right  of  men,  who  have  ably 


74  OLIVER  P.  MORTON. 

"  and  faithfully  served  their  country,  to  know  that  their  labors  are  appre- 
"  ciated  as  they  merit. 

"  So  I  will  not  deny  myself  the  pleasure  of  telling  you  that  Secretary 
"  Stanton  was  with  me  last  evening,  and  we,  naturally  turning  our  minds  to 
"  the  past,  fell  to  talking  of  you. 

"We  agreed  that  no  Governor  rendered  such  services,  or  displayed  such 
"  courage  or  more  ability  in  administration ;  and  we  agreed  that  your 
"  recent  services  were  most  meritorious  of  all,  because  rendered  under  cir- 
"  cumstances  of  greater  personal  risk  of  health  and  life,  and  which  would 
"  have  been  by  almost  any  man  regarded,  and  by  all  accepted,  as  good  rea- 
"  son  for  total  in  action. 

"  I  have  seldom  heard  Stanton  express  himself  so  earnestly. 

"  I  hope  you  will  derive  some  satisfaction  from  this  little  relation.  The 
"  talk  gave  much  to  me. 

"  Cordially,  your  friend, 

"S.  P.  CHASE." 

In  a  speech  delivered  at  a  Soldiers'  Re-union  at  Rockville, 
in  this  State,  on  the  6th  of  September  last,  General  Sherman 
said : 

"  Governor  Morton  was  one  of  the  few  civilians  who  seemed  to  be  unable 
"  to  do  enough  for  his  soldiers,  never  hesitating  to  count  the  cost  or  the  sac- 
"  rifice,  but  acting  speedily  and  in  season.  Gen.  Grant  and  all  of  us  thought 
"  him  one  of  the  noblest  men  at  home.  I  wish  to  repeat  what  I  have  here- 
"  tofore  said  so  often,  that  to  Governor  Morton  the  army  owed  much  in 
"  many  ways.  He  never  failed  us.  He  never  said  our  State  had  stood  the 
"  draft,  or  we  have  furnished  our  quota,  but  answered  every  called,  and  when 
"  the  State  was  well  nigh  impoverished  he  used  his  own  credit.  To-day  the 
"record  of  his  fame  as  the  soldier's  friend  is  bright  and  untarnished  as 
"  glittering  gold." 

Referring  to  his  war  services,  the  Cincinnati  Commercial 
said: 

"  During  the  war  there  were  three  civil  officers  who  displayed  great  exec- 
"  utive  ability,  viz.:  Stanton,  Andrews  and  Morton.  However,  others  were 
"distinguished,  the  first  distinction  for  grasping  the  responsibilities  of  the 
"  occasion  and  becoming  recognized,  positive  personal  forces,  distinctly  and 
"  vastly  influential,  belongs  to  the  Secretary  of  War  and  the  Governors  of 
"Massachusetts  and  Indiana.  The  labor  performed  by  these  men,  the 
"energy  they  put  into  the  war,  the  mighty  impulses  they  gave  to  armies 
"  can  not  be  understood  by  ordinary  workers — were  but  dimly  appreciated 
"  in  the  days  when  their  services  were  most  essential— but  they  will  stand 
"  forth  denned  and  gigantic  in  history." 

In  1863  the  New  York  Times  said: 

"The  State  of  Indiana  has  already  more  than  half  raised  her  quota 
"  under  the  last  call  of  the  President,  and  her  residue  will  be  ready  in 
"  about  two  weeks.  The  State  of  New  York  has  not  yet  raised  a  regiment 


TENDERED  THE  ENGLISH  MISSION.  75 

"  in  response  to  that  proclamation.  The  difference  is  principally 

"due  to  the  fact  that  Indiana  has  a  Governor  of  pre-eminent  devotion  to 
"  the  cause  and  signal  executive  ability,  while  New  York  has  not." 

Seymour  was  Governor  of  New  York  at  that  time. 
The  Washington  Chronicle  said : 

"  In  the  darkest  hour  of  the  slaveholders'  rebellion  Governor  Morton 
"  stood  like  a  rock  'for  the  flag.'  He  held  the  great  State  of  Indiana  true 
"  to  that  sacred  symbol  of  freedom.  When  the  '  politics '  of  the  so-called 
"  Democracy  in  that  State  became  little  better  than  a  conspiracy  of  assas- 
a  sins,  when  beaten  everywhere  at  the  ballot-box  that  party  turned  to  the 
"  pistol  and  the  midnight  conclave — the  final  arguments  of  traitors — how 
"  heroically  did  governor  Morton  meet  and  vanquish  their  gathering  clans  ! 
"  how  did  he  put  to  flight  the  cabals  of  traitors  ! " 

The  St.  Louis  Democrat  said,  in  1872  : 

"  Of  the  many  distinguished  men,  soldiers  and  civilians,  who  have  been 
"  brought  into  prominence  during  the  last  sixteen  years,  few  have  been 
"  more  conspicuous  or  useful  than  Oliver  P.  Morton,  of  Indiana.  *  *  * 
"  There  is  no  man  in  public  life  who  has  done  more  for  the  safety,  honor 
"  and  prosperity  of  the  Nation.  His  pluck  and  energy  during  the  war,  and 
"  especially  his  clear  grit  throughout  the  more  perilous  ordeal  of  recon- 
<;  struction;  have  given  him  a  strong  hold  on  the  popular  heart." 

Similar  extracts  from  leading  papers  might  be  multiplied 
indefinitely,  Xo  American  statesman  now  living  has  received 
so  many  evidences  of  approval  from  distinguished  sources  of 
his  services  to  the  country  and  his  devotion  to  Republican 
principles. 

In  October,  1870,  President  Grant  tendered  him  the  mis 
sion  to  England.  At  that  time  the  Alabama  question  was 
absorbing  public  attention,  and  its  settlement  upon  just  and 
enduring  principles  was  universally  conceded  to  be  a  matter 
of  great  consequence.  Senator  Morton's  ability  as  a  lawyer, 
his  experience  as  a  statesman,  and  his  proved  loyalty  to  Amer 
ican  ideas  marked  him  as  one  eminently  fitted  for  the  duty  of 
settling  this  important  controversy,  and  the  appointment  was 
accordingly  tendered  to  him.  The  announcement  of  this  fact 
met  with  general  approval  throughout  the  country.  The 
Boston  Advertiser  said  : 

"The  selection  of  Senator  Morton  for  the  English  mission  is  creditable  to 
41  the  administration.  He  has  filled  with  honor  many  high  offices  at  home, 
41  though  he  is  yet  in  the  prime  of  life.  In  Indiana,  during  the  war,  he  was 
"  a  model  governor.  In  the  United  States  Senate  he  has  had  few  peers  in 
"  the  clearness  of  his  intellect  and  the  breadth  of  his  views.  In  his  new 


76  OLIVER  P.  MORTON. 

"  position  we  have  no  doubt  he  will  prove  a  worthy  successor  of  the  able 
"ministers  who  have  gone  before  him.  The  State  of  Indiana  will  be  for 
tunate  if  it  secures  a  Senator  in  his  place  of  equal  ability  and  influence." 

The  Chicago  Tribune  said : 

"  The  appointment  is  creditable  to  the  administration.  England  is  just 
"  now  the  great  point  in  Europe  at  which  the  United  States  need  a  statesman 
"  of  ability.  *  *  *  In  selecting  a  minister  to  Great  Britain  the  Presi- 
"  dent  has  been  more  than  usually  prudent.  He  has  not  held  the  office  to 
"  bestow  it  in  any  sense  ns  a  mere  compliment,  or  as  a  reward  for  political 
"services.  He  has  sought  the  best  man  in  the  country  in  order  to 
"  obtain  a  suitable  person  for  the  grave  responsibilities  of  the  post.  There 
"  are  few  men  in  public  life  equal  in  ability  and  vigor  of  intellect  to  Sen- 
"  ator  Morton.  *  *  *  The  appointment  will  strike  the  country  as  an 
"  admirable  one  in  every  respect." 

Such  was  the  unanimous  voice  of  the  Republican  press,  and 
of  the  country  generally.  Upon  full  consideration,  however, 
and  especially  in  view  of  the  fact  that  if  he  resigned  his  plane 
in  the  Senate  the  Legislature  would  elect  a  Democrat  to  suc 
ceed  him,  Senator  Morton  declined  the  proffered  honor. 
Upon  this  the  President  sent  him  the  following : 

"EXECUTIVE  MANSION,       > 
"  WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  Oct.  21.  / 

"  Hon.  0.  P.  Morton,  U.  8.  S.  : 

"  DEAR  SIR  :  Your  letter  of  the  19th  inst.,  declining  the  English  Mis- 
"  sion,  with  reasons  therefor,  is  received.  I  fully  concur  with  you  in  all 
"the  reasons  which  you  give  for  the  course  you  find  it  your  duty  to  pursue 
"in  the  matter,  but  regret  that  the  country  is  not  to  have  your  valuable 
"  services  at  the  English  Court  at  this  important  juncture.  Your  course, 
"  however,  I  deem  wise,  and  it  will  be  highly  appreciated  by  your  constit- 
"  uents  in  Indiana  and  throughout  the  country. 

"With  assurances  of  my  highest  regards,  I  remain,  very  truly,  your 
"  obedient  servant,  TT.  S.  GRANT." 


CONCLUSION. 

We  have  thus  presented  in  outline  some  of  the  salient  fea 
tures  of  Mr.  Morton's  character  and  career.  According  to  any 
just  standard  of  greatness  he  must  be  regarded  as  one  of  the 
great  men  of  the  age,  and  his  friends  point  with  confidence  and 
pride  to  his  public  services  as  entitling  him  to  a  place  among 
America's  greatest  sons.  Those  who  do  not  know  him  will 
gather  some  idea  from  the  foregoing  pages  of  his  comprehen- 


CONCLUSION.  77 

sive  scope  of  intellect,  his  lofty  patriotism,  his  devotion  to 
principle,  and  his  readiness  to  assume  responsibility  in  every 
emergency.  Those  who  enjoy  his  personal  acquaintance  will 
bear  further  witness  to  his  amiable  disposition,  his  simplicity 
of  character,  and  the  absolute  purity  of  his  private  life.  It 
is  a  grand  thing  for  a  man  to  be  able  to  point  to  such  a  rec 
ord  of  public  service  as  Mr.  Morton's ;  bat  it  is  a  still  greater 
source  of  pride  to  his  friends  to  have  it  in  their  power  to  say 
that  in  the  whole  course  of  his  long  career  he  has  never  made 
a  dollar  dishonestly,  nor  lent  himself  to  the  commission  of  a 
wrong  or  an  unjust  act.  Enemies  may  defame  and  rivals 
may  endeavor  to  belittle  his  character,  but  the  impartial  his 
torian  will  write  the  name  of  Oliver  P.  Morton  among  those 
of  the  great  men  of  the  nineteenth  century. 


UKIVBRSITT 


FOURTEEN  DAY  USE 

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